


A Different Kind of Family

by Sand_wolf579



Category: Young Justice (Cartoon)
Genre: Dysfunctional Family, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Past Child Abuse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2020-05-14 07:05:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,812
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19268239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sand_wolf579/pseuds/Sand_wolf579
Summary: For Cameron's whole life his dad was the only family he ever had, and Icicle wasn't always the most affectionate person in the world. Sometimes Cameron needed just a bit more than what his dad could give him. At times like this Cameron would turn to who he thought of as his extended family. The other ice villains.





	1. Chapter 1

Crystal Frost sighed in boredom as she lounged on her bed. Not knowing what else to do with herself Crystal waved her hand and effortlessly created an ice crystal. It was cold, beautiful, and deadly all rolled up into one. Just like she was. Crystal shattered the ice in her hand and blasted the shards at the wall, adding to the ever building ice formation she had there.

The wall was eternally covered with ice. Before one layer could fully melt Crystal would blast another two right on top of it. She did this whenever she just needed a way to get all of her frustration or boredom out. It rarely did the trick though. What Crystal really needed was to get out, have some fun and raise some hell.

There had to be a couple of obnoxious, self-righteous people out there that Crystal could play around with. They probably wouldn't even be that hard to find. But Crystal couldn't go out at the moment because she was expecting company.

They had better arrive soon though, because if they didn't Crystal would be forced to continue to take her irritation out on the poor wall. With each layer of ice she would add, the colder the room as a whole would become, and the colder the temperature was the less effective her powers were.

It may seem a little backwards, but Crystal needed heat to use her ice. It sucked sometimes, but certainly came in handy whenever she came face to face with a hothead who thought that he could easily thaw her powers, when in reality, he was just adding to it.

It was always fun to see their faces when she just absorbed their fire and turned that heat into her cold. Their expressions were priceless, and always worth the battle. Even when she wasn't facing a pyro the battle was still worth it.

Like many other villains that she knew, Crystal found a thrill in fighting with the goody-goody masked idiots. She was even happy just ice blasting innocent bystanders who just happened to be in her way. Crystal reveled in the use of her powers, and absolutely loved showing them off.

She supposed it was because of this that she had gotten stuck in this situation in the first place. Instead of getting out and wreaking havoc over the city Crystal was stuck sitting around her house, waiting for her 'guests' to finally show up.

And all because she owed Joar Mahkent a favor.

Crystal wasn't a team player and often avoided partnering up with other people, especially men. There were a few exceptions to that rule though, a handful of men that she tolerated more than others. They were the other ice users. Unlike her though, the three men who favored the cold element had to use pathetic guns and other useless toys. They didn't have powers. Not like she did.

The only person that Crystal was aware of that had powers like hers was little Icicle Junior.

By same crazy sciency miracle Joar Mahkent, a man who had no powers, somehow had a son who did. Crystal didn't really understand how exactly it had happened, and she didn't really care. All that mattered was that the kid had his own powers, and damn it all if Crystal wasn't going to show him how to use them properly.

That was actually why Icicle was bringing his brat over, because he wanted her to teach the kid how to harness and use his powers. They knew that he had cryokinetic abilities, but no matter what Icicle tried he couldn't get the kid to willingly produce ice. So he had called in a favor and now Crystal was stuck with the responsibility of teaching the kid just how powerful he was.

Before she could do any of that though, she first had to get him to purposefully use his powers, even just once. After that it would only become easier and more natural for him to use them.

Crystal wasn't much of a teacher, but she actually had an idea of how to get the kid to use his powers. So far, from what Icicle had told her, he had only demonstrated them accidentally when he was upset. If the boy tapped into his powers through his emotions, than it would be through his emotions that he would first be able to use them.

All she had to do was get him to focus on a specific feeling and let his instincts take over from there. Crystal believed that the best emotion to 'activate' his powers was anger. Unfortunately that was not something that the kid felt very often. That was alright though. Crystal was an adapter, and she knew how to improvise.

She could figure out a way to get the kid angry...just as soon as he got here.

Crystal scowled impatiently and aggressively threw another ice blast at the wall. Icicle was supposed to have been here an hour ago with the brat. What was taking them so long? What was with men and always being late to everything? Icicle should be grateful to her for taking the time out of her personal life to teach  _his_  kid how to control his powers. And how did Icicle show that gratitude? By being late.

Finally Crystal heard the pounding at her door that indicated that Icicle had finally bothered to show up. Grumbling to herself Crystal went to the front door and threw it open. She glared harshly at Icicle, who was scowling right back at her. And then there was Icicle Junior who was frowning and standing behind his father.

"What took you so long?" Crystal crossed her arms, making her irritation clear.

"The boy was stalling." Icicle said as an excuse, which just irritated Crystal even more. Of course Icicle would end up blaming his seven year old kid. How like a man.

"Yeah, right. Come on, kid, backyard, now!" Crystal snapped. The boy pouted but with a not too gentle push from his father he followed her. Now that she actually had a real look at the kid Crystal noticed that he wasn't wearing the same kind of thing that he practically always wore.

Because of his powers and low core body temperature Junior was extremely sensitive to heat and got warm easily. Because of this he always wore sleeveless shirts and no shoes, so he wouldn't get too hot. And yet here he was wearing, of all things a sweatshirt, with the hoodie actually over his head, and honest to god shoes. Crystal was feeling hot just looking at him, and she knew that Cameron shouldn't be feeling very comfortable, so what was the deal?

Crystal took Cameron out to the backyard, which looked like her own personal ice garden. Just like any other time she tried to teach Cameron how to use his powers, it was going to be a one on one lesson, meaning that Icicle wasn't allowed. He was stuck with just waiting inside while Crystal worked with the small boy.

"Alright, first things first," Crystal glared at Cameron, who shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. "Get your shoes and hoodie off."

Cameron frowned and shoved his hands into his pockets. "Do I have to?" He whined, which just pissed Crystal off.

"Yes, you have to." She growled and formed a spiked ice ball on her hand. "If you don't get those things off right now, I  _will_ rip them off."

Cameron frowned but did as she ordered. It may seem trivial, but Crystal was having a hard enough time getting Cameron to use his powers at all. For all she knew he would have an even harder time using it when he felt warmer. So for right now if he was wearing something that people wore to get warm, it had to go.

Now that Cameron was barefooted and sleeveless, as he should be, Crystal could finally get to work. She took notice that the kid looked even more uncomfortable now and was crossing his arms and hunching, almost as if he was trying to hide from something. She took note of it, but continued on anyways. If Cameron was feeling uncomfortable, well boohoo for him. He just needed to buck up and deal with it.

Crystal formed a simple ice ball in her hands and tossed it to Cameron, who caught it clumsily. This was a regular test that Crystal gave to Cameron. She would give him an ice ball and just have him hold it for a few minutes. She made it with only semi-solid ice, and the goal was for him to solidify it further. He had yet to make any progress with it. Each time they had done this Cameron had, at best, made no changes to it, or, at worst, managed to turn it into a snowball made of powdery snow that fell apart in his hands.

It was a tedious exercise, but Crystal felt that it was a necessary one. Until Cameron could get solid ice down, he wasn't going to get anywhere with his powers. The first few times she had let Cameron focus solely on the task at hand and had stayed quiet. She quickly learned that this was just extremely boring for the both of them, and, if anything, Cameron's attempts were always worst when he tried to focus on it. Cameron didn't need to  _think_ about his powers, he needed to  _feel_ them.

So while Cameron tried in vain to get the ice ball to be firm and solid, Crystal would talk to him, or, even better, let him talk to her. She didn't exactly want to have friendly chats with a child, but it was better than the alternative.

"So, what was with the hoodie?" Crystal asked. Cameron frowned and became tense.

"N-nothing." He stammered and lowered his head. "I just wanted to wear it today."

"Why? We both know you don't need it." Crystal reminded him. "Why do you even have a hoodie in the first place?"

"I-I got it for school." Cameron said quietly. "Some of the other kids…" He trailed off, but she knew exactly what he was saying.

"Oh." She nodded in understanding. "They pick on you, huh?" She didn't even need an answer for that. "Why don't you just rough them up a bit and show them who's boss?"

"We're not supposed to fight in school." Cameron muttered.

"Yeah, and I'm guessing you guys are not supposed to bully each other either." Crystal pointed out. "If you really need to, just think of it as defending yourself."

"They're just saying mean things. That doesn't mean I get to hurt them." Cameron said almost automatically. Crystal rolled her eyes and reminded herself to talk to Icicle later about maybe taking Cameron out of school. All of their 'violence is never the answer' spiels were getting to Cameron's head.

"Yeah, well what about if they hurt you first?" Crystal gestured to Cameron's cheek where she could see a bruise that stood out against his pale skin. Some brat had dared to hit him, and Cameron still hadn't bothered to fight them back? Seriously, he had been brainwashed with the school's anti-violence beliefs.

Cameron's face went red and he refused to meet Crystal's eye. "That...that was somebody else." He muttered quietly.

"You mean your dad?" Crystal asked, though she didn't really believe it. Sure, Icicle shoved his son around sometimes (All the time), but that was practically common knowledge. If Icicle had beat up on his kid than Crystal would see more evidence than just a small bruise.

"No, she…" Cameron's face grew even redder and Crystal realized what he was saying.

"She? A girl did this to you?" And here Crystal thought that all little girls around Cameron's age were weaklings. "What did you do to piss her off?" Crystal knew that even little kids didn't just attack somebody for no reason at all. Not unless they were little psychopaths in the making.

"I didn't do anything." Cameron said. His voice was quiet, but not in a whimpering, shy, embarrassed kind of way. Cameron's hands began shaking. "All I did was tell her that I thought she was pretty, and she...she-" Cameron yelled out, surprising Crystal slightly, and the ice ball he was holding in his hands shattered.

"I don't get it!" Cameron screamed. There were tears in his eyes, but he didn't look particularly sad to Crystal. "I've never done anything to hurt her. I try to be nice and she just hits me and says that I'm a...a freak. Why did she do that?"

"Because she's a bitch." Crystal said, her voice kinder than she usually allowed it to be. "Look, kid, I know you cared about this chick, but my advice to you is to get over your feelings for her. It'll be easier for you in the long run." Crystal knew a thing or two about unrequited love.

Crystal knelt down so she was closer to Cameron's level. "What you need to do is find somebody who likes you because you're different, not in spite of it."

"What?" Cameron's eyes shone with confusion and Crystal had to remind herself that she was just talking with a little kid.

"Well, all you really need in a girl is that she's somebody who sees the psycho that you are, and likes you anyways, get it?" Crystal rephrased her advice. Cameron giggled ever so slightly and nodded.

"You mean like Artemis?" He asked.

"Who?" It took Crystal a moment to remember the latest word among the villains, that Icicle had started partnering a lot with Sportsmaster recently. Artemis must be one of Sportsmaster's daughters that she had heard about.

"Sure, like Artemis." Crystal agreed. "Just as long as she's nothing like that other chick."

"...So I should forget about the girl at school?" Cameron sniffled.

"Oh hell no." Crystal scoffed. "You need to forget about your  _feelings_ for her and get  _revenge_  against this girl. It's one thing to not return somebody's feelings, and it's another to throw it in their face. You need to show this girl just what it means to be coldhearted."

"How do I do that?" Cameron asked unsurely.

Crystal smirked and knelt down to the ground where she picked up a piece of the shattered ice ball. She showed it to Cameron. "You do the same thing you did to this." Cameron stared in shock at the ice shard that Crystal was holding. None of his previous attempts at freezing the ice ball had actually worked. They usually just melted or fell apart, but never had they been solid enough to actually shatter like proper ice. Until now.

"It looks like you tapped into your hidden anger." Crystal commented. "Now it's only a matter of time until you're able to do the cool stuff."

It took a moment for Cameron's shock to fall away. Once it did his eyes gleamed with excitement and, Crystal was pleased to see, mischief. This kid was ready to learn how he too could raise some hell.

Crystal continued on with the lesson and showed Cameron some of the more basic ice moves. She also taught him how to tap into them, other than just through anger. Sure, anger was a good base, but if he built his entire skill level off of it than he would easily lose control and be defeated.

Nearly an hour later Cameron went home with his dad. Crystal knew that she wouldn't be seeing nearly as much of Cameron, especially as he got better with his powers. The more he improved the more he would be able to figure out on his own. He wouldn't need her for very long, and god knows that Icicle wouldn't be asking for her help with the boy for any longer than necessary.

Crystal had thought that she would absolutely despise working with Cameron, and she was surprised at just how much she enjoyed it. At his core Cameron was a sweet boy, but he had a fierceness inside that wouldn't be easily stopped. And Crystal was pleased that she was no longer the only 'true' ice villain. With his powers Crystal could easily see Cameron surpassing Freeze, Cold, and Icicle. It was only a matter of time.

And, the next day when Crystal got news from Icicle that Cameron had been suspended from school because he had frozen some girl to the playground Crystal realized that that day might come sooner than she had originally thought. And she couldn't be any prouder.


	2. Chapter 2

Victor Fries, otherwise known as Mr. Freeze, was a villain who liked to work on his own. Occasionally he would join up with other villains or criminals for a bit, but it never really went anywhere. He prefered to be on his own and do things his own way. Victor had long since learned that getting close to people was just going to end in pain, so why bother?

And that wasn't the only reason that Victor didn't like working with other people. He was a villain, and honestly it wasn't all that hard to not grow attached to other villains that he may work with. The real problem that arose when working with criminals is there was no trust between them. The only thing you could count on when working with criminals is that they were going to end up stabbing you in the back the first chance they got. Especially if it was just a one time thing.

So you can either have a temporary team up that will more likely than not end in some sort of betrayal, or you can form an actual team where there is more trust, but also the higher chance of getting attached, which never ended well.

Either way it was a situation that Victor didn't want to deal with, so he didn't even bother.

He did sometimes make exceptions to his rule, such as when Icicle had come to him with a proposition. Icicle had suggested that the two of them, as well as Killer Frost and Captain Cold, form an alliance of sorts. They weren't exactly going to be teammates or partners, but something a little different.

Icicle's idea for an alliance included that the four of them would occasionally work together for a heist of scheme. Even when they weren't working together they would still have to hold a certain respect for each other. The four of them had an understanding. They would work together when the situation required it, but other than that they did their own thing.

Even though Victor didn't like working with other people he had been intrigued by the proposition, so he had agreed.

One of the best parts about this arrangement was that there wasn't ever a power struggle. The four of them had agreed that whoever had come up with the individual plan would be the one in charge of it. All in all the arrangement worked fine.

The only problem that Victor had with this whole deal was that when he had signed up for it he hadn't known that it wasn't just going to be the four of them.

Technically their little alliance  _did_ only have four members. Him, Killer Frost, Captain Cold and Icicle. However Icicle rarely joined up with them on his own. His little brat was always tagging along behind him, and it annoyed Victor to no end. They were  _criminals._ They were planning  _heists._ In Victor's opinion child had no place in this business.

Icicle, of course, disagreed. He wanted his kid to follow in his footsteps and be a master criminal too. He had even already given the brat an alias, even though it was barely more than a copy of his own. Icicle Junior was the name they said he was to go by.

Victor refused to call him that. An alias or nickname was something that had to be earned. In his eyes the kid had done nothing to deserve such a name, even one as useless as Icicle Junior. No, to Victor the boy was still just Cameron Mahkent. A little kid who was in way over his head. Victor wouldn't even think of him as Icicle Junior until he proved that he deserved the title.

And the more that Victor saw the kid, the more he was beginning to think that that day would never come. Cameron was too complaint. Too sensitive. Too soft. The boy tried to pretend that he was tougher than he really was, but that only showed how truly pathetic he was.

Icicle wasn't blind. He saw, as Victor did, how weak Cameron was. Icicle tried to fix this by teaching his son the way should be. He treated his son harshly in hopes of making him stronger. It wasn't the worst plan, but not the best plan either.

People couldn't be taught how to be evil, it just had to come to them. It could come naturally, like it did for Killer Frost. Or their criminal instincts come out because of tough trials and circumstances, which was the case for both Victor and Captain Cold. Sometimes it was a combination of both.

Victor didn't know which was the case for Icicle, and he also didn't know if either would be true for Cameron, though maybe it was too early to tell. Yes, Cameron had done some things that were pretty malicious for an eight year old child, but was it really his intention to cause trouble, or was he just doing as he was told and following his father's example?

If that was the case, then Cameron wasn't bad, simply naive. A child who was blindly following, not knowing nor question if what was being done was right or wrong. Until the boy did something of his own free will, he would never get anywhere. He was just a wannabe.

What irked Victor to no end was that even though the kid was a nothing he was still brought along on their heists. In the years past Icicle had come alone, but now he brought Cameron along with him. He said that he wanted the boy to get a feel for the family business.

Even though Victory hated it when Cameron came along, he didn't let his annoyance get in the way of getting the job done. Victor would do his best to ignore the kids presence. It wasn't as if Cameron got in their way, then again, he didn't really help out much either. Cameron simply did as he was told by his father. Whether it was good or bad, it didn't matter, the kid still did it.

Maybe that was what irritated Victor so much. That the kid didn't act with a mind of his own. He was acting more like Icicle's pet than his son.

As long as it wasn't Victor's job to take care of the kid though, why should he care? He shouldn't, and he didn't. The kid was nothing. It was as easy as that.

Victory ignored the kids very existence, but occasionally a heist would come along that would make it impossible. One of those heists was one that Killer Frost had planned, and it had seemed normal enough at first.

Frost wasn't a schemer, she was a destroyer. She was a fan of killing and chaos, though she did sometimes commit a simple robbery, just for the sake of it. Her plan had been simple enough. They were to meet up in a medium sized city that wasn't under the direct protection of any heroes. Frost would hold up a jewelry store, Captain Cold snag a couple of priceless artifacts from the museum and Icicle and his kid would go rob the bank.

Victor had been given the task of driving the getaway vehicle, because he was the least inconspicuous of all of them. He despised the job and thought it below him, but had reluctantly agreed. After all, this was Killer Frost's party, he was just a guest here.

All of these heists were to happen simultaneously. With no hero around to protect the city the task of stopping them would fall to the cops, who wouldn't stand a chance. Super criminals flocked to where masked heroes were. Plain cops in a smaller city like this wouldn't have any experience with people who used ice the way that the four of them did.

It was a simple enough gig, but still they agreed to meet up a few hours before the intended time, just to be sure they were ready. It was a good thing they planned to be early because, despite their agreement Icicle arrived later than their designated time. By the time he finally arrived Frost and Cold had already left to scout out their places. After waiting around at the meeting place for a bit longer Victor frowned, got in the getaway van, which still felt pretty cramped to him, and drove to the bank that was to be Icicle's mark.

Victor parked about a block away, just that they had planned, and waited. He knew that Icicle would show up, because he always did. It was just annoying to have to wait for so long. Finally he could spot Icicle making his way towards him, with his son following close behind him.

"You took your time getting here." Victor said coldly when Icicle got to the car. If there was one thing that he didn't like about Icicle, other than the fact that he continually involved his son in matters that didn't concern him, it was that he was always acting like he was better than them, just because he was the oldest. As if age equaled experience, and experience was the same thing as being allowed to bend the rules to their will.

"We got held up." Icicle scowled. He opened the door to the back and shoved his son inside. Icicle climbed into the van as well and began going over the plan and the things that he would need. For a while nobody said a word. They just sat in silence, with both of the men going over the plan in their heads while they boy just sat there thinking about whatever it was little kids think about.

The key to this heist was that Icicle, Cold, and Frost struck at their targets within a matter of minutes of each other. When the time for him to strike drew close Icicle gathered his things, grabbed his ice gun opened the door of the van. Icicle jumped out, more than ready to take on this job. Victor turned on the car again. It was his job to provide getaway for the other three (and a half), and since Icicle would be striking first, he would be the first to get picked up. That was why Victor had come to this location in the first place. Because this was his starting point.

Icicle and Cameron were supposed to be sneaking inside right about this time, and yet even though Icicle was clearly ready to go, the kid wasn't. He hadn't moved from the spot where he had been sitting quietly this whole time. Icicle glared at Cameron, who refused to meet his gaze.

"You're seriously still doing this?" Icicle asked, obvious irritation in his voice, though also the slightest trace of concern. Cameron didn't answer his father, he just stared at the floor of the car. Victor was annoyed with his behavior, and Icicle was as well.

"Cam, look at me." Icicle ordered harshly. The kid lifted his eyes at the sound of his father calling by his true name, which he never did during a heist. "Look, we've gotta get this thing. If you're not up for using your powers, I need to know now!" Cameron frowned, his eyes full of fear, though Victor wasn't sure why. After a moment the kid shook his head.

Icicle's expression darkened. He was obviously angered by his son's unwillingness to cooperate. However, there was still a job to be done, and they were on a schedule. "Suit yourself." Icicle growled. "But we are going to be dealing with this little problem of yours as soon as we're done here, got it?" Cameron nodded meekly.

Icicle scowled and made to slam the door shut when Victor realized too late when he intended on doing.

"You can't leave the kid here." Victor said stiffly. It was one thing to be driving the getaway car, but to be a babysitter? Forget about it.

"I don't have a choice right now." Icicle growled. "Junior's been refusing to use his powers for the past week and he'll just be a dead weight in there without them. I'm better off working solo for this one."

"I'm not watching him." Victor said. Icicle glared at him irritably.

"You don't have to watch him." Icicle snapped. "It's not like he'll be in any danger out here." With those words Icicle closed the van doors and went on his way. Victor glared at the place where Icicle had been previously, and then moved his glare to the boy that was the source of his ire. To the kid's credit he didn't even flinch under the icy stare. He just stared at him with sad eyes.

"What's your problem?" Victor scoffed after their small staring contest had gone on for a minute. Sure, he didn't want to hear the kid whine about whatever was bothering him, but Victor was curious. Cameron loved using his powers, and he certainly seemed to enjoy being a part of his father's plans. The kid liked to feel useful, to feel like somebody needed him, so why was he giving up this chance to do just that? It didn't make sense.

"I don't have a problem." The kid muttered, though it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself of that. "I just...I don't want to use my powers." Cameron pulled his legs to his chest and wrapped his arms around them protectively. He buried his face in his knees. "They're evil." He muttered, and Victor thought for sure that he must have heard wrong.

Why did the kid think that his powers were evil? And, better question, why did he care? Cameron hadn't showed any preference for good or bad thus far, so he shouldn't care if his powers were evil...and they weren't.

"It's not one's abilities that make them good or evil, but what they do with them." Victor reminded the kid, who began shaking his head fiercely in disagreement.

"No, they're  _evil._ " The kid insisted.

"What makes you say that?" Victor asked.

Cameron was quiet for a minute before saying quietly "...If I didn't have powers, she never would have died."

"What?" Victor was sure that he must have misheard that. There was no way that Cameron, a timid little eight year old, had managed to kill anybody. It just wasn't possible. "Who?"

"My mom." The kid muttered. "It was all my fault."

Victor was more confused than ever. Cameron was saying that he had killed his mother, but from what he had heard the woman had been dead for years now. In fact Victor thought he remembered Icicle saying once that his wife had died in childbirth…

...Oh.

"You can't blame yourself or your powers for what happened." Victor tried to reason.

"M-my dad said that she only d-died because I was too cold for her body to h-handle." Cameron stammered. "If I didn't have powers-"

"Then she might have died anyways." Victor snapped. "Women die giving birth all the time. It's just something that you have to learn to deal with."

"I don't  _want_ to deal with it!" Cameron cried. "I want my mom." The kid sniffled. "I wish I never had powers."

"Well, you do, and that is just something you will have to live with." Victor said irritably, though his voice was noticeably more gentle than before. "You can't change what happened. You simply must learn to live with the consequences."

"H-how?" Cameron lifted his head and looked at Victor with wide, desperate eyes. Victor considered how to go about answering the question.

"You just need to move on." Victor said. It was vague advice, but the best he had to offer. Victor was somebody who knew a lot about losing somebody dear, but he really had no right to talk about moving on from such a loss.

After all, the only reason that Victor prefered to be alone was because of what had happened to Nora. It had been years since it had happened, but the pain still felt as fresh as the day she died. Victor had never really gotten over the death of his wife. He still missed her every day.

"But it's hard." Cameron whimpered. "D-does it get easier?"

Now, Victory could easily tell a lie to the boy. He could tell the boy what he wanted to know, that he would get over it someday. Who knows? It might happen. In Victor's experience though, it wasn't the case.

"Not really." Victory said honestly. "Some days are better than others. You learn to live with it though."

"Yeah right." Cameron rolled his eyes and frowned.

"And even if you don't, that's still no excuse to run away from your problems." Victor continued. "Whether you like it or not, you have powers, and they're not just going to go away. That's something else you have to learn to live with. Your powers a part of who you are."

"I don't like it." Cameron said stubbornly.

"We all have that part of ourselves that we don't like." Victor said seriously. "Welcome to life."

The sound of police sirens from down the street stopped things from getting all too sentimental. Victor and Cameron both froze and looked towards where the sirens were coming from...the same direction to where the museum was.

"Are they-" Cameron trailed off, afraid to voice his thoughts.

"There for your father? Most likely." Victor said shortly. He turned the car back on and kept an eye out for Icicle. Unlike Cameron Victor wasn't the least bit concerned about the arrival of the cops. It would have been nothing short of a miracle if the cops hadn't shown up at all. They had arranged the three heists this way so that there would be  _less_  trouble for all of them, not  _no_  trouble for any of them.

It wasn't too long before Victor could see Icicle running towards them. He had the large duffle bag of cash slung over his left shoulder and his ice ray gun in his right hand. There were a couple of cops in pursuit after him, he had probably taken care of the others with his gun already. With just a few more shots over his shoulder Icicle was able to freeze the remaining cops in their tracks.

With his pursuers incapacitated (or dead, depending on who you ask) it looked as if it would be smooth sailing from there. It seemed as if this would be a relatively easy escape, but in thinking that they got cocky. None of them bothered to notice that one of the cops, while his feet were frozen to the ground, his hands were completely free. This cop was armed, and since he couldn't go after Icicle he did the only other thing he could think of;

He shot at him.

Victor and Cameron watched in horror as Icicle cried out in pain and stumbled, their minds turning to the worst. However it seemed as though the cop who had fired the gun was just a rookie, probably hadn't actually shot anybody before, and his aim had been off. Icicle hadn't been hit straight on. He was still too far to tell if he had just been grazed or if the bullet was still lodged in his arm or leg or something.

Either way, he wasn't critically injured. Icicle had gotten worse than that all the time. The bad part was that he was still injured, so the cop had at least succeeded in slowing him down a fair bit. There was no way that Icicle would be able to continue running to the vehicle, and Victor was sure that by the time he staggered his way over here backup would have arrived or some of the other downed cops will have realized that Icicle was an easy target now and would open fire.

Icicle had gotten lucky with that first shot. Victor doubted that his luck would hold out for a half a dozen more.

Victor was considering his options. He could either sit here and do nothing, which wasn't the prefered option. He could get out and help Icicle, which would mean cluing the cops in to their alliance, but at least they would both get away with the money. Or he could just drive off and not get caught, but also be stuck without the cash and with the kid.

While Victor tried to figure out which option was the least horrible Cameron had already come to his own conclusion. The kid crawled over to the door and swung it open. Without hesitating, or perhaps without thinking, Cameron jumped out of the vehicle. The determination, fear, and concern on his face made it clear that he wanted to help his dad, which was an idiotic idea. Cameron was just a kid. What chance would he stand against a bunch of armed cops?

"Kid, what are you doing?" Victor asked when he saw just what the kid was up to, as if he thought the kid was insane, and he did. Icicle felt about the same way when he noticed his son.

"Cam, get out of here!" Icicle growled through his teeth. He was clenching at his leg, which Victor could see now was where he had been shot. "Now!" Icicle shouted when Cameron didn't move. Normally the kid would have obeyed without thinking, like a trained dog. Of course, Cameron just  _had_ to pick today to begin thinking for himself.

"I-i can't." The kid said in a quieter voice, and Victor was sure he was the only one who heard him. "I can't lose you too." Acting on instinct Cameron held out his hands and shot many shards of sharp ice out of them. The shards flew towards the cops, grazing some of them, knocking the guns away from others and actually piercing the rest.

Victor had seen Killer Frost use attacks like this before, all the time, but he hadn't known that Cameron was capable of such a thing. Apparently the boy wasn't quite at that level yet and ended up overexerting himself with this new ability of his. Cameron moaned slightly and began swaying on his feet until his legs could no longer support him and he just fell to the ground.

"Cam!" This was just the motivation that Icicle needed. Even if it probably hurt like hell Icicle staggered his way forward. Before too long he had reached the van, and his son. Cameron's little trick had worked to stall the cops for a moment, but they still didn't have a lot of time.

Icicle, with surprising gentleness, picked up his son and climbed into the vehicle, wincing at every small movement he made. The second they were in the van Victor sped off. He didn't even bother waiting for Icicle to close the stupid door. All that mattered was getting away from there.

Glancing into the rearview mirror Victor could see Icicle holding his son close to him, protectively. It wasn't very often that Icicle showed his fatherly side, but when he did it was obvious just how much he cared about Cameron. Love was a dangerous thing, especially in their line of work, but Victor knew that it wasn't his job to tell Icicle or his kid how to live their lives.

Besides, it had been a close call tonight, and Victor knew that many people, heroes and criminals alike, had a tendency to show or look for more affection after barely scraping by. It was why looking for a prostitute to spend the night with was such a common thing for criminals to do after a difficult heist. Victor never did that sort of thing, but he believed that Icicle might and Killer Frost and Captain Cold most certainly did...every single time.

That was another reason why Victor thought that love, human contact, and just emotions in general were a waste of time. Because they were also a waste of money. However, even he had to admit that affection could be a powerful motivator.

Like tonight. Icicle had forced his way back to the van in a rush because he was concerned about his kid. And Cameron...that kid had just ended up surprising Victor. The kid had used his powers just minutes after saying he never would again. He had attacked cops with an ability he had never even tried to use before. For all they knew Cameron could very well have  _killed_  one or two of those cops who had been pierced by the boys ice.

And all because Cameron didn't want anything bad to happen to his father.

' _Not bad, Junior.'_  Victor thought to himself. ' _Not bad at all.'_


	3. Chapter 3

Leonard Snart didn't really think of himself as a social person, but he had to admit, he was more willing to work in a group than a number of other villains were. After all, if  _one_  brilliant thief was able to become a master villain, than  _multiple_  thieves and rogues would be able to accomplish even more.

This was why he had formed The Rogues in the first place, and there were some pretty good perks when working on a team, if they were the  _right_ team. There was always somebody around who would be willing to watch your back as long as you watched theirs. More people with more specialties meant more possibilities. And it certainly made life a hell of a lot more interesting.

Of course, since it was  _his_  group, anybody who wanted to join had to play by  _his_  rules. He had a code that he expected his people to live by, and if they didn't, then they were out. Simple enough. He  _liked_  living by his code and not being a monster, but there were some disadvantages to his rules.

They had made him soft.

Leonard had grown used to living a specific way. He had grown used to people living by the standards he had set. It had almost ( _almost)_ made him forget that not everybody lived by a code like he did. He was fine with that, really he was, but it really made things difficult whenever Leonard decided to join up with his fellow ice villains for a heist.

They were a team of sorts, which Leonard was used to. What he was  _not_ used to was that he wasn't the boss of these people. Since he wasn't in charge he had no right to tell them how to live their lives.

That didn't mean that he had to be  _happy_  about what they did.

"Useless!" Icicle shouted as he threw twelve-year old and scrawny Cameron against the wall. Leonard winced at the sound of the kid's skull striking against the wall, but, against his better judgement, he did nothing to interfere. "What the  _hell_ were you thinking?!"

Icicle was absolutely furious, and was taking it out on his kid, which Leonard  _hated_  more than anything else. Granted, they were all pretty frustrated right now because their heist they had tried to pull off earlier that night hadn't gone the way any of them had wanted it to, each of them would only be walking away with half the cut they had been expecting, and, in a way, it  _was_ the kid's fault.

It had been his job to keep watch and warn them if somebody was coming. An easy enough job, but highly important, even if it wasn't always necessary. Cameron had gotten bored while keeping watch and had let his mind wander. The kid had been so sure that nobody would show up that when, to his surprise, a security guard  _did_ show up, Cameron hadn't noticed him until it was too late. Because of the kid's carelessness not only did they lost precious time, they also had to waste even  _more_ time to save his scrawny ass from the guard who had caught him.

The five of them had easily made it out, but with a much smaller take than any of them had been expecting, and none of them were happy about it. They all blamed each other, but Cameron, being the youngest and weakest one of them, not to mention the one who had messed up, got the brunt of the anger.

Even Leonard was mad at the kid, but that didn't mean that he thought he deserved  _this_.

"I-I'm sorry, dad." Cameron stuttered pathetically. He had his hands pressed against the back of his head, probably in a vain attempt to stop the pounding pain he was certainly feeling. Leonard could see the kid's legs shaking, and it was a wonder that he was still standing. The kid was tougher than he looked, Leonard would give him that much.

"You think 'sorry' is going to fix anything?" Icicle growled. He backhanded his son harshly, and though the hit wasn't all that strong it still sent Cameron sprawling to the ground. The kid was down, but Icicle didn't look ready to let him off that easily. "Do you have  _any_ idea what your stupidity could have cost us?!" Icicle shouted as he kicked Cameron in the chest. Hard.

There was a harsh snapping sound and the poor kid screamed in pain. Leonard clenched his fists at the sound. He would bet his entire share from tonight that the kid's ribs were fractured, or at the very least severely bruised. The kid was seriously hurt, and obviously in a lot of pain. In Leonard's opinion he had more than learned his lesson.

From the burning and furious look in Icicle's eyes, he disagreed...No, that wasn't it. Icicle  _knew_ that Cameron had more than learned his lesson, and yet Leonard knew, he  _knew_ that the man still had the desire to hit his son. To hurt him. Leonard had tolerated Icicle's punishments towards his son, because the man was under the impression that what he was doing was for his kid's sake. That Cameron was too weak, and this was the only way to toughen him up.

It was an excuse that Leonard had heard before, and not one that he agreed with. And yet, for whatever reason, he let Icicle punish his son and teach him lessons. Leonard did absolutely  _nothing_  as the kid got hurt, and he hated himself for it every day.

Icicle always said that he never enjoyed hurting his kid, but it was necessary. That he had no other choice. The look in his eyes right now though, they told a different story. He  _wanted_  to hurt his son. He  _wanted_ to see the kid suffer.

He wanted to cause the pain that he knew the kid had to be feeling.

Leonard felt a cold fury build up inside of him. He had never been happy with the fact that Icicle beat his kid, but he had never done anything to stop it.  _Now_  though? It was completely different. Somehow, a line had been crossed.

Leonard saw Icicle getting ready to kick at his son again, this time aiming for the head, and he just snapped. "Enough, Joar." Leonard grabbed his cold gun from its holster on his hip and he aimed it at Icicle. In an instant Icicle had his own weapon up and aimed at Leonard. The two men stared each other down and the only sound to be heard in the room were Cameron's whimpers and short sobs.

Icicle was the first to break the silence. "You trying to tell me how to raise my kid,  _Snart_?" He growled out, but Leonard didn't let himself be intimidated. He was through with being intimidated by men like Joar Mahkent, who thrived off the fear of others.

"I'm just saying maybe you should avoid killing your own son." Leonard hissed.

"I wasn't going to kill him." Icicle said heatedly.

"You sure about that?" Leonard raised an eyebrow at him. Icicle had been able to kick Cameron in the head. For all they knew, it  _could_ have possibly killed him, or at the very least have done some serious and possibly irreversible damage.

Icicle scowled, but Leonard was glad to see a hesitant look in his eyes, which confirmed what Leonard had thought this whole time. Icicle had just been acting in the heat of the moment tonight, without thought of the consequences. Icicle had wanted to hurt his son and cause him pain, which was horrible, but he had never wanted to  _damage_ his kid.

What Icicle didn't understand though was that he had probably already damaged his kid beyond repair. Leonard knew this better than anybody.

Without taking his eyes off of Leonard Icicle addressed his son. "Get out of here, Cam." He ordered roughly. "Don't let me see or hear from you again tonight." The boy whimpered and curled in on himself, but a moment later he was staggering to his feet. He was clearly in immense pain, and yet somehow Cameron was able to make his way out of the room.

With his son out of the way Icicle could turn his full attention to Leonard. The hot fury in Icicle's eyes had burned out and was replaced by his usual cold, calculating look. Like Leonard, Icicle was a planner. He calculated and schemed, and even though he lost his cool quicker than Leonard himself did, Icicle never stayed angry and burning for very long. Within minutes he always regained his composure.

Icicle was clearly still angry, but he was now in control of his emotions. Now that he was thinking clearly once again Icicle was studying Leonard, a slightly confused look on his face. He didn't understand something, and he wanted to. Leonard bristled at the look, because he knew exactly what it was about.

"Why does this bother you so much?" Icicle asked. Leonard scowled and tightened the grip on his gun. He did not want to talk about this. Not now, and not ever. "I've always known you were soft. Do you just feel sorry for him?"

"I don't like seeing children get hurt." Leonard admitted in a low voice. "You know that."

Icicle studied him for another minute before smirking slightly, a look of understanding in his eyes now. "I bet it brings back bad memories for you." Leonard tensed and his finger twitched over the trigger. The smug smirk on Icicle's face grew bigger. "Yeah, I know about that." Of course he freaking knew about it. Icicle made sure to read up on any and all villains, super-powered or not. He liked knowing what he was dealing with. Leonard liked doing the same thing with his crew, but damn it all if it was freaking infuriating to have it done to him.

Icicle sighed and lowered his weapon. "You're probably not going to believe me when I say this, but I don't enjoy doing this to Cam, but I have no choice. He needs to toughen up, and this is the only way to do that."

"You want to know how many times I heard  _that_ growing up?" Leonard asked coldly. "It doesn't excuse anything."

"I know." Icicle admitted. With that he seemed to deem their conversation finished and went to join Killer Frost for a drink of something on the other side of the room. Leonard stayed where he was for another minute, his cold gun still raised and everything, before swearing under his breath and lowering his weapon.

There was still the uneasy feeling in his chest of cold, hard anger. It wasn't an unfamiliar feeling, but one that he didn't like. At least over the years he had come to find ways to bury the feeling, by doing something with himself to preoccupy his mind.

Leonard stalked to the table in the corner and began the process of taking apart his cold gun, only to put it back together. It was something that he had done hundreds of times before, but still he took his time with it. The cold gun was a complicated weapon, and he didn't want to risk damaging it because he was impatient and hasty.

Taking his time with his weapon gave Leonard the chance to calm down. He could feel his frustration and anxiety ebbing away the longer he worked at it. Not only was it calming, but it was also a good way to pass the time, because all of them had a few hours of waiting still ahead of them.

The five of them had ultimately decided to lay low after committing the heist, just for a few hours, before making off with their individual takes. They didn't also lay low after heists, only when they were in cities like Gotham, which was so overrun with crime and villains that the police force only spent so much time focusing intently on a single heist. After two or three hours another heist would be committed by another group of people, and the police force would move on with their investigation.

It also helped that all of them made sure to not use their ice, so it would just look like any other heist. Gotham was filled with so many super criminals that often times their smaller crime was ignored.

So now they were just sitting here in a warehouse, waiting for the heat to die down a bit. It was a bit boring, but much more preferable to prison time. Leonard himself didn't actually mind the waiting. In a way, he actually enjoyed it. It gave him a chance to let the adrenalin from the heist die down a bit.

The hours passed quickly for Leonard and in what felt like no time at all it was the early hours of the morning, and the heat from their heist that night had probably long since burned down. If it wasn't safe for them to get out of town now, it never would be.

Killer Frost looked ready to get out of there, which was understandable. She hated being stuck in one place for too long. She was most definitely a free spirit. Mr. Freeze...honestly, Leonard had no idea what was going through that guy's head, and he never did. He was just always so expressionless and impossible to read. It was kind of unnerving sometimes.

Icicle, like Leonard, seemed mostly indifferent about lying low. He hadn't seemed to mind the wait at all, but once morning came Icicle sighed and got to his feet. Leonard watched warily as Icicle headed to the door of the room that Cameron had been hiding out in this whole time.

"Junior, come on, let's go." Icicle said gruffly. There was no response. Icicle scowled and entered the room. "Cam!" He barked, and Leonard tensed at the tone of his voice. It wasn't just angry, but also concerned. Something was wrong. Leonard snapped the last piece of his cold gun back into place, picked up his weapon and went to join Icicle in the doorway.

"What's going on?" He asked, though the question wasn't needed. Just one glance into the all too empty room told him exactly what was wrong.

"Cam's not here." Icicle glared into the empty room. "Where the hell could he have gone?"

Leonard cast his eyes around the room and quickly took notice of the single window. He had inspected every inch of this place when they had first got here, and he knew for a fact that the window had been locked. And yet here it was, unlocked and even slightly opened. These facts, as well as Leonard's own experience with this sort of thing, told him one thing.

"He ran off." Leonard said plainly.

"What? Why?" Leonard could tell that Icicle was growing angry again, but it somehow felt different from the anger that Leonard was used to seeing in people.

"Because of what you said earlier." Leonard stated as Icicle's earlier words to Cameron repeated in his mind. Icicle had told the kid that he didn't want to see or hear from him. The kid had been hurt, upset, and scared. People sometimes forgot how hard it was to hide your emotions, especially in silence. Leonard suspected that the kid had been crying and, despite his efforts, couldn't keep quiet. He had probably gotten scared that his dad would hear him and he would get in even bigger trouble than before. So he had run off, just until he calmed down.

"How do you know?" Icicle asked somewhat judgmentally.

"Because I used to do the same thing." Leonard said, and suddenly Icicle was looking at him in a whole new light. "He's probably done this sort of thing before, but this...this is different." Gotham wasn't like Star City. Icicle seemed to have realized this at the same time as Leonard did, and the fierce protectiveness in his eyes (Leonard only recognized the look because it was the same look he got in his own eyes when it came to his younger sister, Lisa.) grew stronger.

"We have to find him." Icicle all but growled.

"You talking about Junior?" Killer Frost butt in. Leonard and Icicle both glared at her, neither of them being in the mood for her antics. They hadn't known that she, and Mr. Freeze, had overheard them.

"Gotham is no place for a child." Mr. Freeze said stiffly. "Especially not at night."

"Which is why we'll go out and look for him." Killer Frost said simply. She glared at Leonard and Icicle when she caught them both staring at her in surprise. "Look, that kid is the only one of you guys that I even remotely like. I'm not about to let something happen to him just because you men are too proud to ask for help."

"Three pairs of eyes will have a better chance of finding him than two." Leonard added.

"Do what you want." Icicle agreed, just because he didn't want to waste time fighting about it. "Just find my son."

The three of them split up to find him while Mr. Freeze stayed at their warehouse hideout. He didn't care about Cameron at all, barely even liked him, but he did swear to call them if the kid were to show up again.

Leonard watched as both Icicle and Killer Frost headed for the central parts of the city. Neither of them probably had any idea of where to even begin looking for Cameron, not like Leonard did. Cameron may not be the smartest kid on the block, but he wouldn't be stupid enough to wander around the streets of Gotham by himself. Especially if he had been out here all night, like Leonard suspected he had.

No, he believed that Cameron had gone somewhere a little more private and safe. Leonard wasn't as familiar with Gotham as he was with Keystone and Central City, but he  _did_ know that Gotham Park was only about ten blocks away from their current location. There was no guarantee that that was where Cameron had wandered off to, but it was as good an idea as any, so Leonard decided to go with it.

It took less than fifteen minutes for Leonard to get to the park. He walked past all the guys selling and using drugs (Yet another activity that he highly disapproved of), the couples making out in the dark (Do none of them have apartments to do that in?), and the teenage delinquents that were hanging around (Because nothing said ' _Badass_ ' like hanging out at a park). He ignored everybody and just made his way for the large playground.

It looked abandoned, but Leonard didn't give up hope, because sometimes looks could be deceiving. Leonard climbed onto the playground, marveling at how small it was...well, small to him. Leonard was sure that in a child's eyes, the playground would seem huge. The playground was actually made up of multiple structures, all attached to each other by a bridge or a tunnel. There were a number of slides and towers, but at the moment Leonard was only concerned about two things.

The tunnel bridges, or tunnel slides. If Cameron was here, that would likely be where he was hiding, since there really weren't any other hiding places. Unless he was hiding underneath this whole structure, because that was also a possibility.

First things first though, Leonard got to his knees, bent his head and looked inside the first tunnel bridge. It was empty, like he had half expected it to be. That was fine though, because there were more tunnels for him to check, and an entire city after that.

...yeah, this might take a while.

Fortunately Leonard's gut instincts were right, just like he had thought they would be. He got lucky at his third tunnel bridge, which wasn't empty like the others had been. No, this one had the curled up form of a kid who looked kind of cramped in there. Leonard suspected the only reason the kid fit at all was because of how scrawny and small he was for his age.

"Cam?" Leonard reached in and gently shook the boy's shoulder. Immediately the kid's eyes flew open in a panic and, acting on instinct, he shot a shard of ice towards the person who had woken him. Thankfully, Leonard had quick reflexes and was able to dodge the ice blast, because that would have been a pain to deal with.

"Kid, calm down." Leonard said it what he hoped was a calming tone. He didn't have a lot of experience with kids. "It's just me."

Cameron stared at Leonard with wide eyes for a moment before a look of recognition come over his face. "Len? What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you." Leonard said. "Have you been out here all night?"

"All night?" Cameron frowned in confusion and slowly crawled out of the tunnel. He looked at the sky and blinked in surprise at the brightening sky of the dawn. "Oh, it's morning."

"Yeah, it's morning." Leonard rolled his eyes. Did all kids enjoy stating the obvious, or was it just Cam? "What, did you just end up falling asleep out here?" Cameron's sheepish expression confirmed Leonard's belief. Well, at least he knew why Cameron had been gone for so long.

"You're such an idiot." Leonard shook his head. "Do you have any idea how worried your dad was when he found out your were gone?"

"Worried? Yeah right." Cameron scoffed darkly. Cameron sat down at the edge of the playground, letting his feet dangle over the edge. He stared intently at the ground, his eyes shining with unshed tears. "My dad doesn't care about me." He sniffled pathetically.

Leonard sighed and sat next to Cameron. "Trust me, kid, I know exactly how you feel."

"No, you don't." Cameron insisted stubbornly. He crossed his arms over his chest, then hissed painfully and pulled his arms away to avoid irritating his ribs. Leonard reached into his coat pocket and brought out a bottle of painkillers. He had gotten into the habit of carrying the stuff around when he was a teenager, and it had come in handy more times than he could count since then.

"Try going into ice mode." Leonard suggested as he handed Cameron some of the pills. He had gotten rib injuries before, and he knew that putting ice on the injury would help ease the pain and the swelling. Because of Cameron's, well, uniqueness, Leonard wasn't sure how useful an ice pack would be. But hey, for all they knew him going into ice mode would have the same effect as an actual ice pack. It was at least worth a shot.

"Believe it or not, Cam, I do understand." Leonard said again, because it was true. He did understand what Cameron was going through, because he had gone through the same thing. The fear. The beatings. The pain. The anger. Leonard understood it all.

He remembered going to school every day, lying about where he got his injuries while he resented his teachers for not seeing the truth. He remembered the countless nights of cowering in the back of his closet, trying to stifle his sobs and praying that he wouldn't be heard. He remembered the ever-present feeling of hopelessness.

Leonard remembered what it was like to live with an abusive father.

"You're not the only person who grew up with the constant fear." Leonard looked straight ahead. He felt rather than saw Cameron look at him. "The fear of making a mistake, screwing up just a bit, and be given hell for it."

"...Did you dad-?" Cameron trailed off.

"Hit me? All the time." Leonard had a difficult time recalling a day when his dad  _hadn't_ abused him when he was a kid. "You may not like me saying this, but trust me, you have it lucky."

"Lucky?" Cameron looked understandably angry and hurt. "How am I lucky?

"Because while your dad may be an abusive asshole," There was no denying that much. "He's an abusive asshole who  _does_ love you." It felt so weird to say that out loud.

"Love?" Cameron wrinkled his nose at the word. It wasn't a word that was often used in the vocabulary of villains. "How do you know he l-loves me?"

"It's the little things." Leonard leaned back. "Like how your dad stays home to take care of you whenever you get heat exhaustion." Which happened a couple of times every summer because of Cameron's extreme sensitivity to heat. It was always annoying when the five of them had a heist planned and at the last minute Icicle would insist on postponing it, just because of Cameron.

"Or how he loses his cool whenever you're in danger." Icicle may hurt his kid, but Leonard could remember countless times when he would become infuriated if anybody else ever dared to threaten or hurt his kid. He was a protective dad...except, you know, when he wasn't. "You can't tell me you can't think of a time when your dad showed his softer side."

"...He  _does_  help me whenever I'm hurt." Cameron admitted quietly. "Even when  _he's_ the one who hurt me in the first place, he still helps. He's more, I don't know,  _gentle_ at those times than he usually is."

"Yeah, I bet." Leonard said as he cursed Joar Mahkent for being so incredibly inconsistent with how he treated Cameron. He would abuse and degrade his son, and then he would turn right around and act like the caring father that he  _should_ be. No wonder Cameron was confused with how his dad felt towards him.

"Trust me, Cameron, I am the  _last_ person who would try to make excuses for how your dad treats you." Leonard said. He knew that Icicle said that he only hurt Cameron because the kid had to toughen up and he didn't know any other way to make it happen. Still, Leonard believed that Icicle should  _find_ a better method for making Cam stronger, other than just by breaking him down.

"So why are you trying so hard to fix our relationship?" Cameron asked, which made Leonard pause and think. It really was a good question, and it took him a few minutes to come up with what he hoped was a good answer.

"Because life is hard enough as it is. You don't need to go around making things harder for yourself by not having somebody around you can count on." Leonard was well aware of how sentimental he sounded at the moment, but he really didn't give a damn. What he was saying was kinda sappy, but important nonetheless. "My advice to you is that if you have somebody in your life that actually gives a damn about you, don't let them go."

Cameron nodded, though Leonard was sure he didn't really understand. "How am I supposed to do that?"

"The best I can say is that you need to live through the bad times, and never forget the good." Leonard shrugged. It was the only advice he could think of to give on the matter.

Cameron was quiet for a minute and he looked uncertain about something. Finally he turned to Leonard hesitantly. "...Was my dad really worried when he saw that I was gone?"

"Kid, you have no idea." Leonard smirked. He got to his feet, stretched, and held out a hand to Cameron. "You ready to head back? I'm sure your dad will be relieved to know that you're not lying dead in some dirty Gotham alleyway."

"Yeah, probably." Cameron took the offered hand and slowly got to his feet, wincing when the movement jarred his ribs. Leonard took out his cell phone and quickly sent a text to both Icicle and Killer Frost, telling them that he had found Cameron and they were on their way back to the warehouse. With the messages sent Leonard and Cameron began the walk back.

When it had been just Leonard it had been a relatively short walk, now though he had Cameron with him and was forced to walk more slowly, so to not hurt his ribs. Finally they arrived at the warehouse. They went inside and almost immediately Icicle was upon them.

"Cam!" The boy looked shocked at the genuine relief in his father's voice. Cameron turned to look at Leonard, who raised a knowing eyebrow at him. Their look of mutual understanding was interrupted when Icicle suddenly and unexpectedly put his arms around Cam, pulled him close, and actually embraced him. It was...shocking. Leonard was pleased to notice though that even though Icicle's hold was tight, he was still careful with Cameron's ribs.

The kid stood there dumbfounded for a minute before the shock wore off. Once it dead he hesitantly, as if afraid he was doing something wrong, leaned into his father's embrace. Icicle didn't shout at or scold him though. He just held him close, protectively.

"Don't you  _dare_ run off like that again." Icicle said threateningly. Leonard snorted and shook his head. Honestly, only Icicle would threaten somebody because they were worried about them getting hurt.

"...I'm sorry, dad." Cameron said weakly. "I just-"

"I know, Cam." Icicle interrupted. "I know. Just... _please_  don't do something like that again."

Cameron blinked and stared at his father. His dad  _never_  said please. He rarely ever asked for something, let alone politely. He would rather make commands than requests any day. Icicle must be feeling desperate to actually  _ask_.

"I won't." Cameron swore, because, really, how could he say no to this? He had never meant to worry his dad.

Leonard watched the two of them for a moment before turning away and heading for his corner to gather his things. Cameron and his father had a dysfunctional relationship, at best, but Leonard was sure the two of them would figure it out.

Actually, now that he thought about it Leonard realized that dysfunctional relationships were kind of the norm for villains and criminals, and that was if they even had any relationships at all. A lot of criminals preferred to work solo, and honestly, who could blame them when getting into relationships seemed to be the quickest way to turn one's life into a shakespeare drama?

As far as dysfunctional relationships went, Leonard liked to think that Cameron's and Icicle's was one of the better ones. God knows that it was nowhere near perfect, but in all seriousness, perfect seemed impossible and boring.

Maybe 'okay' would be good enough for them.


	4. Chapter 4

Many professional criminals, especially the so called 'super villains', had a style that they liked to call their own. They used the same themes, calling cards, weapons, styles, whatever. Basically, whenever a unique crime was committed the local authority were easily able to tell who had done it, just by looking at the clues.

Joar Mahkent wasn't like most 'super criminals'. He didn't have a specific kind of heist, or even a set area that he stuck to. There was no pattern in his victims or the kind of items that he stole. The only somewhat regular thing about Joar's crimes was that he frequently used his cold gun, but that was because it was a useful weapon. He wasn't obsessed with ice, needed cold to survive, or had stinking powers like the other ice villains did. He just used his gun out of convenience, and maybe just a  _bit_ out of preference.

There was just one thing that Joar looked for when he committed a heist, and that was a score. He wasn't interested in being flashy, or threatening innocents, or even fighting caped idiots. All he was in for was the money.

Though he liked riches, Joar wasn't a hasty, low threat crook. He didn't swipe something pretty the second he saw it. No, Joar was better than that. He was a planner, and when he had a heist or crime in mind it often took months to plan properly, and sometimes it even took a few months to execute.

Joar wasn't perfect though. Sometimes even he got careless and made stupid mistakes just because of an expensive gem. Sometimes his hastiness cost him his prize, and sometimes it got him shot. Never before though, since he had started this whole super criminal thing, had a careless mistake gotten him caught.

He was beginning to think that today was the day that his luck finally ran out.

It was supposed to be an easy enough job, Joar hadn't even bothered bringing anybody else in on it. It was just him and his boy. The target had been a high quality, medium sized sapphire gemstone that was on display on some dinner cruise. Joar had heard about it, researched the kind of security they would have on a dinner cruise, and began planning.

He hadn't thought to consider that the reason the sapphire was on the ship at all was because there was some big special event going on. There were loads of rich and privileged people there for the event, so they had upped security for the night.

Joar was beating himself up for missing such an important detail. Of  _course_  they would bring on extra security. It had been an amateur move to think otherwise. Not only was there more professional security, but they were one a boat that was currently in the  _middle of the freaking ocean_. So even though sneaking onto the ship had been simple enough, and swiping the gem had been child's play, Joar and Cameron had been stuck on the ship with nowhere to go.

Even though Joar had known this, he had still shoved the sapphire into Cameron's hands and told him to run. When it came to agility, Cameron was the faster of the two while Joar was the more physically capable one when it came to fighting. Their best bet in this would be for Joar to hold off security, giving Cameron the time to figure out how to either get out of there or ditch the gem.

That had been poor planning on Joar's part. All it had done was gotten him caught. Joar had been disarmed and locked in some small storage room. His hands were bound behind his back by handcuffs, just as an extra measure to make sure he couldn't get anywhere before the police that the security had called showed up.

Joar wasn't stupid enough to think that he could escape. There wasn't enough time or resources for that. He was screwed, and there was nothing he could do about it. The only thing he could do was hope that for once Cameron wasn't being a sentimental idiot. He had the gem, and he had his powers. If the kid was smart he would abandon ship and freeze the ocean water into a path back to shore.

Joar knew that Cameron was more than physically capable of skating back to land. Mentally though, that was an entirely different story. For reason that Joar never understood Cameron had always been the sentimental type. He was soft, weak, and it was going to get him killed one of these days. Joar knew that Cameron was capable of being a real cold hearted bastard when he set his mind to it, but for the most part the kid just didn't have the motivation.

Hopefully the prospect of being caught and sent to prison was motivation enough for Cameron tonight.

That hope was blown to pieces in an instant when not five minutes after Joar had been locked up he heard a commotion coming from outside. The voices were muffled, but Joar could make out one pathetic, almost shrill voice that he would recognize anywhere.

"Cam, you idiot." Joar glared at the storage room door as it was opened from the outside and his son was thrown inside. Cameron's arms were also bound behind his back with handcuffs, so his landing was a little on the rough side. Joar doubted his kid had even felt it though, considering he currently had his ice armor up.

Well, at least that showed that Cameron had put up at least a bit of a fight. Joar had half thought that his son would have just  _let_ himself get caught.

"You were supposed to get out of here." Joar rebuked harshly. Cameron glared at him as he struggled to sit up, which was made difficult and awkward with his hands behind his back.

"How was I supposed to know that?" Cameron asked defensively. "You just gave me the gem, you never told me what I was supposed to do with it."

"I shouldn't have had to." Joar snapped. It was usually great that his son followed his orders without question, but sometimes Joar just wished that Cameron had some initiative. That he would know to do something without having to be told. Well, it was too late to worry about that now. "At least tell me you did something with the sapphire." If they got caught  _and_  what they had stolen had gotten back to its original owner within just a few minutes, Joar knew that they would never be able to live it down.

Cameron smirked. "I took care of it, dad." For a second Joar was worried that Cameron had just tossed it into the ocean, but then the teenager turned so his back was towards his father and held out his palms towards him. His hands, like the rest of his body, were covered in ice, but Joar thought he saw a small glimmer under the surface of the ice. Joar narrowed his eyes and leaned closer.

"Is that what I think it is?" Joar didn't think it was possible. There was no way that his son, who was stupid enough to  _not_ run when he was given the chance, had actually managed to keep his hands on the priceless gem.

"Yep." Cameron said smugly. He retracted the ice that covered his skin so that his dad could see the sapphire fully for himself. With the ice gone the gem clattered to the ground, but it wasn't the only thing that did.

"My god." Joar stared in shock at the handcuffs that had literally just slipped off his son's now ice free wrists. Cameron brought his hands in front of him and just looked at them.

"Whoa." Cameron sounded even more amazed than Joar felt. "How did that happen?"

Joar couldn't help but laugh. "Cameron, you brilliant idiot."

"Cameron's eyes widened. "What? What'd I do?" He wasn't used to seeing his father look pleased, especially not with him.

"You had your ice up when they put those handcuffs on." Joar said, still chuckling slightly. "You have thick layers of ice on your skin, so when you took the ice away, the handcuffs were too big to fit around your scrawny wrists." It was kind of sad how he had to explain that at all.

"Oh." Cameron looked pleased with himself at having done something worthwhile, even if it had been by accident. "That's cool."

"Alright, kid, we've gotta move quickly." They didn't have a lot of time, but now that Cameron was free to move around as he pleased Joar was beginning to think that his idea might actually work. "There should be two guards just outside the door. Think you can freeze them?" He just assumed that there were guys out there. There was no say that the security guards would be stupid enough to leave them on their own.

"Uh, I guess so." Cameron didn't look too confident, but he never refused his dad's orders, even when he wasn't sure they would work. Cameron got to his feet and went over to the door. He thought for a second before turning slightly and knocking over a pile of stacked boxes. The boxes clattered loudly when they hit the ground.

There was a knock on the door from the outside. "Quiet in there, cons."

"Somebody thinks they're a prison guard" Joar muttered. He nodded at Cameron who took a deep breath and crouched to the ground. Cameron placed his hands flat on the ground right near the small gap between the floor and the door. Almost immediately a shot of ice came from his finger tips. There were two cries of alarm and pain from the outside, but they were quickly muffled.

"Not bad, Cam." Joar acknowledged. Cameron smirked slightly and relaxed the smallest bit. "Now you need to freeze the lock on the door off."

"Got it." Cameron said with more confidence than before. Busting locks was  _a lot_ easier to do than freezing people on the other side of the door. Cameron ice blasted the the lock and gave it a few good hits. It didn't quite work all the way, so Cameron froze the lock once again before continuing to hit it, and just like that the lock gave away. They were free...almost.

Cameron turned back towards Joar. "Come on, dad." But Joar had already started shaking his head.

"It'll never work." He said plainly. "I won't be able to get anywhere fast with this cuffs on."

"Then I'll just freeze them off." Cameron said as if it was obvious.

"You can't." Joar snapped. "You'll take too long and by the time you get them off it'll be too late." Joar had mentally been keeping track of the time and he knew they had just a couple of minutes before the cops arrived. Cameron would take care in freezing off the handcuffs, because he would want to be sure to not freeze Joar's skin instead. He would take way too long and they would just miss their window of opportunity. There was no other way. "You know what you have to do."

"I'm not leaving you, dad." Joar ignored the way his son's voice cracked.

"You're going to have to." Joar looked his son in the eyes. "You have no other choice, Cameron. We both know you wouldn't last a day in prison, so get out while you can."

"But what about you?" Cameron's voice was soft and vulnerable.

"I've been to prison before, boy." Joar growled. "I know how to take care of myself." Joar wasn't worried about going to prison. He knew he would be sent off to Belle Reve, that was where all 'super criminals' went. Well, there or Arkham.

Joar may have never been incarcerated at Belle Reve before, but he had a pretty good idea of how things worked there. Like in most prisons there would be a capo, a big boss that basically ran the place. There were also the Omega villains who were seen as jokes by most everybody else, people like Riddler. In most prisons your first go there would get you the automatic status of Omega and then you had to move your way up the ranks.

Belle Reve was different. Before a villain even sets foot on the premises they practically already have their prison status, which is based on their threat level as a villain. Joar knew he was one of the higher ranking villains, so he wouldn't be given much trouble at Belle Reve.

Besides, Joar already had a plan in mind to boost his ranking even more. He had the feeling that he would do just fine in prison, at least until he came up with a break out plan.

Cameron on the other hand was an entirely different matter.

The kid was only fifteen, and even though he was technically a super villain he was a low threat one. Chances were Cameron would be sent to juvie with the other wannabes. Precautions would probably be taken, and Cameron would be forced to wear one of those inhibitor collars that they used at Belle Reve. He wouldn't have use of his powers, and would be torn to pieces within minutes because of it.

There weren't all that many younger meta-humans, especially not ones who were criminals. To Joar's knowledge, Cameron was the only one. Even though he was scrawny and would be unable to use his powers, the other kids at juvie would see him as a threat anyways, and they would give him hell for it.

If Cameron got arrested today, he wasn't going to make it out of juvie alive.

"Cam, I'm serious, you have to get out of here." Joar said harshly.

"But-" Cameron looked panicked.

"Now, Cam!" Joar wasn't about to let his kid get arrested. He knew it was going to happen eventually, but he was going to stall it for as long as he could.

Cameron looked absolutely miserable. He stared at his dad with a pleading expression, but Joar wasn't budging on this. Finally Cameron sighed and looked at the floor. "What will I do?"

"Take the gem and get back to shore." Now that Cameron was cooperating with him, Joar's voice had taken on a somewhat softer tone. He lowered his voice even more at his next words, because he didn't want the guards outside to hear. "Sell the sapphire, get as much as you can for it as quickly as possible, and then find a way to Central City. Snart would probably be willing to keep an eye on you for a bit." That man already had two brats on his team, and a third, a hero no less, that he had a soft spot for. Joar had no doubt that Leonard Snart would keep Cameron out of trouble, at least for a bit.

"Okay." Cameron nodded his head. He still looked unsure and upset, but at least he was listening. Cameron approached his father and after hesitating for a moment embraced him. Joar scowled at the gesture and didn't return the embrace, but he didn't pull away like he normally did. In his head he just cursed the fact that Cameron was just too damn sentimental for his own good.

Joar gave his kid a minute before clearing his threat. "Come on, Cam, you gotta get out of here."

"Yeah, okay." Cameron took in a deep breath to calm himself. He picked up the gemstone that was still on the floor and put it in his pocket. "I'll see you later, dad." And without another word, without even another look back, Cameron ran out of there before you could change his mind. Joar breathed a sigh of relief when he was gone. He knew that Cameron was going to be okay.

While Joar was extremely rough around the edges, he did have a soft spot for three things: Money, power, and his son. Joar didn't show his affection very often, but he did care about his kid. That scrawny teenager was the only thing Joar had left of his wife, and he wasn't about to lose him too.

Despite his constant hesitation, Cameron was a resourceful kid when the situation called for it. Joar knew that he was going to be okay, especially with Snart's help. Cold knew how to look after his own, and had always liked Cameron.

Joar knew that Cameron would get to Central City just fine with little to no trouble from the cops. Whether he had the sapphire or not, nobody would pay any attention to him. No cop would want to go after Icicle Junior when they had Icicle in their grasp.

This was probably the one good thing about Cameron's status as a low threat villain. As long as there was somebody more threatening around, Cameron was safe.

And right now, for as long as Joar wasn't able to be right there to keep an eye on his kid, safe was all he wanted. Joar may want more from Cameron when it came to his confidence and ruthlessness, but Cam couldn't get any better if he was dead. So even though playing it safe wasn't really the kind of thing that Joar normally did, if it kept Cam alive for a few more years, just until he could grow out of this soft, scared phase of his, maybe he could give it a try.


	5. Chapter 5

Prison was such a drag.

Crystal Frost was not a stranger to being a prisoner. She had even been incarcerated at Belle Reve before, and it was just as dull as she remembered. She absolutely hated being held somewhere against her will, she got stir crazy very easily, so regardless of the circumstances in the prison she would already be in a bad mood. And she could be a real icy bitch when she was in a bad mood.

The fact that Belle Reve used the damn inhibitor collars just made everything a hell of a lot more annoying to deal with. They didn't just block prisoner's powers, but they also drained them of their energy and made them weak. And of course there was also the whole electric shock that it caused whenever they stepped out of line.

Crystal seriously hated these collars.

And, on top of everything else the collars basically reversed the natural pecking order amongst the villains. In her eyes the meta-humans and 'freaks' were the ones who had the real power. Anybody who claimed to be a supervillain who didn't actually have any powers was just fooling themselves. At Belle Rever though things were different.

Those who had actual abilities that could be blocked were left vulnerable because they weren't used to being powerless. People who didn't have powers to block were left feeling practically the same as they ever did, which put them at an advantage on the prison hierarchy. It sucked and seemed completely backwards to Crystal, but there was nothing she could do about it...except get as close to the people in charge as she could so she could be at least near the top. Luckily for her she already had an in thanks to Icicle.

Sure, her standing wasn't all that sturdy or high after that failed break out, but it was still better than nothing. As long as Icicle was the Capo, so, basically, as long as he and Strange had their weird alliance thing going on, Crystal was pretty much set., though many people had made it clear that they didn't like it.

Crystal didn't want to have to rely on Icicle for her prison reputation though, because there was no surefire guarantee that it would be enough. It certainly wasn't for Cameron. That kid was Icicle's  _son_ for crying out loud, and he was probably on the lowest level of the prison hierarchy. Even Icicle's standing as Capo couldn't protect the poor kid from all the backlash that was sent his way after the whole prison break disaster.

It wasn't really Cameron's fault that the whole plan had failed. They had  _all_ been fooled by the brats that The Justice League had sent in. Cameron had just been the one that they had used, so he was the one who was taking the blame for it.

Crystal wasn't heartless enough to believe that it was fair that Cameron's life was now a living hell, but she also didn't care enough to do anything about it. Maybe if the kid was dying or something, but Crystal knew that it wouldn't get that far. Icicle and Captain Cold wouldn't let them get that far. Those two certainly cared a lot more about Cameron. Crystal decided to just let those two risk ruining their reputations over a brat who couldn't take care of himself, but she wasn't going to. Not unless it was absolutely necessary.

When she minded her own business and just stuck to herself Crystal found that prison was almost tolerable if it weren't for the fact that it was extremely boring. Crystal was an active person and she liked to have a good time, and she couldn't do that when there was nothing to do.

What she wouldn't give to get out of this prison for the day and just raise some hell. She needed to get out, cause trouble for somebody else because it always made her feel better to see someone have a harder time than she did. Yeah, so she found joy in the pain of others, she was a super criminal, what else was to be expected?

Crystal seriously wanted to cause some trouble, but it wasn't actually the thing that she hated most about being at Belle Reve. As awful as being bored was, being weak was even worse. Yes, Crystal missed her freedom, but she missed her powers even more. It wasn't even just that she felt vulnerable without them, but she felt kind of empty.

Crystal hadn't had her powers for the majority of her life, and yet now she could barely imagine her life without them. And yet here she was, unable to use them at all. She had forgotten how hard it was to not have access to her powers from the last time she had been at Belle Reve. And it wasn't just the power and thrill of having abilities that other people didn't that she missed, though those were pretty great, but...Crystal just missed her ice.

Yes, she was an ice villain that really loved the cold and ice, how original, but it was true. Crystal had always loved the cold, even before she had her ice powers. It had been amazing to be able to just suck the heat out of something and make it cold. That was probably Crystal's favorite part about her powers, though the reflective frozen shards of ice came in a close second.

The one thing about the cold that Crystal could do without was the snow. She all but despised the one part of winter that most everybody liked. She didn't think it was fun and pure, all she thought about snow was that it was soft, wet and way too overrated. Still, right now in prison and without her powers it would be pretty nice to see even a little bit of snow...yeah, she was that desperate.

Normally Crystal would just suck it up and deal with it. On days like today though her desire to see and create a large ice storm was more powerful than usual. Maybe she was just being sentimental and weak, but ever since she had gotten her powers Crystal had celebrated her birthday by causing a blizzard in a place that didn't normally get that harsh of winters. It was a simple and foolish tradition, but it was  _hers_ , and this year would be the first time since she had received her powers that she couldn't do it. She hadn't realized just how disappointed she would be about not being able to do it.

It really was true that you didn't realize how good you have it until it's gone.

So now instead of spending her birthday causing a blizzard just for the hell of it she was stuck at Belle Reve, forced to interact with people when it was the absolute last thing that she wanted to do. The only good thing about this prison was that the guys and girls were in separate wings. Crystal didn't think she could handle the ego of the men, who definitely outnumbered the women five to one.

Even without sharing space with the men Crystal still hated the 'yard' time they were given. First off because they weren't allowed in an actual courtyard, just a large room inside. Second off, while it did give Crystal the time and space to at least stretch her legs a bit, all the other women in here were given the same opportunity at the same time. It became less about stretching her legs and more about glowering at those that she didn't get along with that day.

And today, when she was already in a really bitchy mood, Crystal ended glowering at  _a lot_ of people. It got real old real quick, but at least she was left alone.

"Hey, Crystal!" An excited and way too young voice called out.

... _mostly_ alone.

"What do you want, kid?" Crystal turned around to face Cameron, who looked way too beat up to look this happy. Seriously, did the kid not know  _where_  they were right now? Just so they wouldn't have to yell at each other to be heard Crystal went closer to the glass wall that separated the men's and women's wings. One would think that whoever created this damn prison would have gone all the way in separating the genders and made the joint walls soundproof...apparently not, as Crystal could hear through the glass as if it wasn't even there.

"You look awfully chipper." Crystal eyed Cameron and noticed that he didn't have any new bruises or injuries. "They decide to leave you alone today?"

"I guess so." Seriously, Cameron looked way too happy and relieved about a single day of not getting beat up for something that wasn't even really his fault. Then again, Crystal figured she would be feeling pretty relieved about having a break from getting sent to the infirmary every damn day. Cameron was quiet for a minute before he continued in a softer tone. "I just got back from seeing Conner."

Oh, that was a much better explanation for Cameron's mood. "How was the Superboy?" Crystal asked. She still couldn't believe that that moody hero seriously went out of his way to visit Cameron, a low-threat criminal, in prison. What surprised her even more was that Cameron actually accepted him as a visitor. Crystal didn't understand why Cameron would want to even see the person who had tricked and used him. The two boys must've bonded even more than Crystal had originally thought when the Superbrat had been here undercover.

Crystal didn't really agree with Cameron's new friend, but she didn't give him a hard time about it. Socializing casually with heroes was not Crystal's cup of tea, but if Cameron wanted to do it she wasn't about to stop him. And she also wouldn't tell anybody else about it, because she knew that not many of the villains in this place would be as accepting as Crystal was.

Honestly, she didn't understand what the big deal was. It may not be a normal thing for heroes and villains to socialize with each other as if they weren't enemies, but Cameron was far from the first person to genuinely befriend a hero. There were even a couple of villains who had friendly relationships with heroes that were still respected by the villain community. Just look at Catwoman, who constantly flirted with Batman in such a way that made it clear that she actually had feelings for him. And then there was Captain Cold and his group of Rogues.

Crystal never understood The Rogues. They didn't seem like that big of threats, none of them were even meta-humans, but they were still able to make a name for themselves. Somehow, even though nobody truly took The Rogues seriously, they still respected them. Even with their not-so-secret fondness of that Kid Flash they were respectable villains.

And if a normal person with a ridiculous name like Leonard Snart could still be feared despite his kinda friendship with a hero, then there was no reason why Cameron couldn't do the same thing...except for the fact that he wasn't much of a villain in the first place. But hey, he was still young. They had time to train him up to be the ruthless bastard he was born to be.

"Connor's doing fine...I guess." Cameron frowned slightly and leaned against the glass. "Seriously, I can't really tell. I swear, that guy has only three different expressions. Angry, broody, and somewhere in the middle."

"At least he's nothing like the all american boy in blue." Superman seriously irritated Crystal. He was just too damn perfect. Although, from what she had heard from Cameron, who got his information straight from Superboy, Superman wasn't the flawless perfect role model that everybody thought that he was. "So, your friend didn't tell you anything...interesting today, did he?" Crystal raised an eyebrow and smirked.

"No, and he's never gonna." Cameron rolled his eyes. "Connor's not an idiot. He doesn't tell me a thing about his team." Well, that was a shame. Crystal wanted to hear some juicy information about the junior Justice League. "We mostly just talk about school."

"I would definitely pay money to see Superboy going to public school." Crystal laughed slightly, because the image was pretty damn hilarious. "So, you're really okay with him talking about going to school like a 'regular' person?" Crystal would have thought that Cameron would want to avoid that topic like the plague. He had been forced by his father to drop out of school a few years ago and he was still bitter about it. Cameron always seemed to become visibly upset whenever anybody talked about school, especially High School.

"Psh, yeah." Well, Cameron certainly  _sounded_  like he was fine with it. "His horror stories have kinda put me off against school. I'm over it." Maybe he was now, but Crystal had the feeling that soon he would be right back to whining about how he didn't have the chance to live like a regular boring kid. Well, she might as well enjoy the break while it lasted.

"So, you really just come over here to talk about your hero friend?" It sounded completely stupid, but then again, this was Cameron that Crystal was talking to. Going out of his way and wasting her time to talk about something that she really couldn't care less about was definitely something that Cameron would do.

"Not really." Cameron grinned slightly and Crystal knew that he was hiding something. Cameron put his naturally cold hands against the glass and just kept them there for a minute. Powers or no powers Cameron's hands were extremely cold and they were chilling the window. After a minute Crystal became slightly annoyed and was about to demand to know what he was doing when Cameron drew his hands back and, of all things, breathed on the window where his hands had been.

"What the hell are you doing?" Crystal frowned. Cameron was acting really weird...well, weirder. Cameron just smirked and breathed on the glass again. The warm breath hitting the cold glass caused it to fog up. Cameron quickly drew a picture in the foggy glass with his finger. Crystal was still extremely confused, and then she saw exactly what Cameron was drawing.

It was a snowflake.

"I'm sorry I can't give you actual snow and ice." Cameron said, and he sounded sincerely apologetic. "This is the best I can do right now."

Crystal couldn't help but grin slightly. "It's great, Cam." The kid knew about her birthday tradition every year. Cameron couldn't make ice right now any more than Crystal could, but he still felt the need to do  _this._  The snowflake drawing was crude, useless and was already beginning to fade...but it was also an incredibly sweet gesture.

"Happy birthday, Crys." Cameron said quietly.

"You're such a dork, kid." Crystal said fondly. Cameron shrugged.

"Yeah, well, you got me there." Cameron smirked. Crystal returned the smirk, but it fell away when she saw a couple of guys glaring nastily in their direction. Alright, so maybe they really  _weren't_ going to be giving Cameron a break today.

"Why don't you go see how your dad and Cold are doin'?" Crystal suggested quietly as she gestured behind Cameron. The teenager frowned and quickly glanced over his shoulder. He paled slightly when he saw the threatening glares.

"Uh, yeah, I'll do that." Cameron said somewhat weakly. He may be able to handle a beating better than most kids could, but he didn't want to be ganged up on. Especially not when he couldn't even use his ice to defend himself and his body was already battered and bruised enough as it is. "I'll see you later, Crys."

"Later, Junior." Crystal watched as Cameron tried to look normal and casual as he rushed back to his dad and Cold for at least some level of protection. "Good luck, kid." She muttered when he was out of hearing range. She wasn't usually the type of person to wish anybody luck, but this was different. Cameron  _needed_  that luck.

That kid had made himself the easiest target in the prison. The only reason he wasn't dead was because of who his dad was, and who knew how long  _that_ excuse would hold up. Normally people who were kind of on the fence between good and bad fell to the bad side while in prison. Being incarcerated with people who weren't so good had a tendency to toughen people up.

For some reason though, it didn't seem to be doing that for Cameron. The kid wasn't really toughening up to prison life. If anything, he was getting even more pathetic and weak because if it. Cameron was a sweet kid, even a blind person could see that much, he just tried to pretend that he wasn't.

And Cameron wasn't a very good pretender.

Crystal could see three ways that this whole thing could turn out. Either Cameron would finally reach his breaking point that would push him off the fence and onto the side of evil, he reached his breaking point and just cracked under the pressure, or he would live through his sentence, continue hanging out with that Superbrat and be swayed towards the side of good.

...Actually, there was a fourth option, now that Crystal thought about it. Cameron could just stay a fence dweller, not exactly good, but not truly bad either. He wouldn't lean towards one or the other and just stay a neutral party. It sounded like the lazy option for people who didn't want to truly commit to any one side, but Crystal thought that neutralness somehow worked for Cameron. It worked for him.

The hardest part about that plan was that Cameron would have to survive first. Crystal believed in him though, because even though Cameron wasn't a tough kid, he was still a tough kid...yeah, so what if that didn't make much sense? It was the best that Crystal could come up with right now. Give her a break.


	6. Chapter 6

Victor Fries was not a fan of being imprisoned. He hated every second that he was incarcerated at Belle Reve, as did every other prisoner. The inmates were treated like wild animals. There was rarely a day without there being some sort of fight over positions or rankings, which Victor had never understood. No matter how high or low a ranking they were given, from capo to bitch, a prisoner was still a prisoner.

Even still, with all the fighting and humiliation that he had to deal with on a daily basis, Victor still acknowledged that there was worse places that he could be. Such as Arkham, for example. The inmates were treated even worse in the asylum than in the prison. Victor would of course prefer it if he wasn't imprisoned at all, but he would rather be here than at Arkham.

The one thing that was consistent in both places was that new inmates were always annoying as hell. All villains were incredibly bitter about being imprisoned, but nobody complained about it more than the ones who had just been caught. For days on end Victor had to listen to the newcomers whine about how they had been  _this_ close to getting away, and they could have done it if it weren't for ' __insert hero name here__ '. As Icicle Junior had so eloquently put it one day, they behaved like  _Scooby Doo_  villains after they were caught.

"This guy's just not shutting up." Cameron Mahkent muttered boredly after the fifth day of listening to Malcolm Merlyn's ranting. "I swear, I've memorized this stupid archer's speech about the stupid archer by now."

"We all have." Victor said dryly. He was so tired the sound of Merlyn's voice that he was making somewhat civil conversation with a boy that he barely tolerated. Yes, part of that may be because Icicle had business with strange that day, and he had all but ordered Victor and Captain Cold to keep Cameron out of trouble while he was gone. Still, Victor would rather talk to the boy than be talked  _at_. Besides, Victor found the boy (young man? Was he already legally an adult at this point) to be much less tolerable when they were discussing something they could agree on.

"Please tell me I wasn't this bad when I first got here." Cameron pleaded.

"You did not." Victor confirmed. "Although, the circumstances were different." After all, Cameron had  _let_ himself get caught. The pale boy shrugged off his words.

"I don't care if they were different, this guy is seriously getting on my nerves." Cameron said bitterly. Apparently they weren't the only ones who had had enough, because not two seconds later Brick pounded his hand into the wall right near Merlyn's head, effectively shutting him up.

"A lot of us have gotten grief from that Robin Hood wannabe." Brick said roughly. "Get over it."

Merlyn crossed his arms indignantly, he was probably trying to come off as defiant yet in control. However, with all of the complaining the man had been doing Victor just saw a child throwing a temper tantrum. "It wasn't Green Arrow who caught me."

Cameron snickered to himself. "You got nailed by Speedy?" It was a fair assumption, as there were only so many masked archers.

Merlyn frowned. "No, it was the other sidekick."

Cameron tilted his head in confusion. "Green Arrow just has the one sidekick."

"Well, he got a new one." Merlyn insisted with a scowl.

"She's running around with the kiddie league." Captain Cold said. "Her name is Artemis."

Cameron tensed up at his words. "W-what? That's not...are you sure?"

"I've seen her on the news." Captain Cold said. They had access to television for an hour or so every week, but Leonard Snart was probably one of the only people who actually bothered to watch the news on it.

"I'm surprised you even noticed her." The men turned to the glass wall that separated the women from the men. A number of girls had gathered to watch the show, including Killer Frost, who was the one who had spoken. She raised an eyebrow. "I thought you only ever had eyes on your Flash Junior." A number of people snickered. They were all well aware of the strange, almost friendly relationship that the Rogues had with the young speedster.

Captain Cold frowned. "Blondie's been hanging around Kid Flash a lot lately." He explained as though he wasn't even aware that he was being mocked, though he probably was. "Nothing has been confirmed, but I believe the two of them are dating."

"Dating?!" Cameron's voice cracked pathetically at the end of the word. Nobody else noticed his distress, as they were all too busy muttering about this latest bit of gossip. Sometimes Victor wondered whether he was in prison or a High School. They were all so caught up in themselves that only Victor and Cold even noticed how upset Cameron looked. "When did this happen? How…" The boy trailed off.

"Captain Cold frowned. "Cam, I thought you already knew about Artemis." The kid shook his head, causing Victor to feel irritated. How did one not know that their childhood friend had turned into a superhero?

"When did it happen?" Cameron asked again.

"I'm not sure." Captain Cold admitted, which was shocking because the man usually had an air about him like he knew everything. "I might be wrong though. There may not be a relationship at all."

"But they're close." Cameron darkly. "I can't believe she's actually dating that…wait a second." Cameron frowned. "Why is Artemis on the team?" Well, at least he was asking the important questions now.

"I started seeing her with them the beginning of September last year." Cold said, because of course he would remember exactly when the villain turned hero had started to make a name for herself.

"September?" Cameron frowned in confusion, but within moments his eyes widened in horrified shock. "Oh,  _shit!_ " Cameron started muttering under his breath and Victor thought he heard him saying the months of the year to himself, probably to remind himself of the order. Cameron wasn't exactly well known for being very bright. He muttered the months to himself three or four times, and he grew paler with each run through.

"Dammit." Cameron clenched his fists. "God  _dammit_!" He punched at the wall suddenly, probably doing more damage to his hand than the wall. Victor and Cold were both taken aback by the sudden burst of anger. "That  _bitch!"_  Cameron hit at the wall again, and Victor thought he could see a flash of red on his knuckles. The kid really wasn't holding back. Victor would be impressed if it weren't for the fact that Cameron was about to draw unnecessary attention to himself, and that wasn't what they wanted right now.

"That's enough." Cold grabbed at the kid and held him back. He shoved Cameron towards Victor. "He needs to calm down. Get him out of here." Victor didn't really want to be put on babysitting duty, but he didn't object. Of the two of them, Victor was more suited to dealing with violent fits of rage. Cold always seemed to shy away from them as much as he could. Victor didn't know why Cold could handle violence, and he could deal with anger, but he froze up with he was face to face with somebody who got violent when they were angry, but honestly, he didn't care. Cold's business was his own. Besides, Victor was too busy trying to drag Cameron to a more secluded part of the prison to even think about the mystery that was Captain Cold.

Cameron was so scrawny that even with his slight resistance Victor was easily able to drag him out of the room. The guards didn't interfere like they usually would have, and Victor hadn't expected them to. Over the past few months Cameron had been jumped and beaten up so many times that that was probably what the guards thought was happening now. They hadn't done anything to stop it those times, so why would they start now?

Victor pushed Cameron into an empty storage room that was used more often for beatings than storage. Victor locked the door behind him and turn to face Cameron, who was seething. Victor didn't think he had ever seen Cameron look so furious before, and it was somewhat unsettling. For the first time Victor actually saw the family resemblance between Cameron and Joar. The boy looked a lot like his father when he was angry.

"That bitch." Cameron growled in a low voice. His glare towards the wall was absolutely deadly. "She-she...gah!" Cameron punched at the wall again. And again. "She just...she used me!"

"What are you talking about?" Victor crossed his arms. Cameron was breathing rapidly, but he had stopped hitting the wall.

"Artemis." Cameron scowled darkly. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "You know, I saw her last year. I didn't know she had switched sides."

"How did she use you?" Victor raised an eyebrow. It wasn't as though he honestly cared, but he  _was_ curious. Just what could one teenage girl do to anger Cameron so much?

"She...I thought she was getting arrested." Cameron frowned. "I saw her at the end of August last year. I hadn't seen her in forever, I almost didn't recognize her. She's the total babe now, you know."

"Get to the point." Victor glared at Cameron. He was not here to listen to the boy talk about his childhood crush.

Cameron rubbed his arm awkwardly. "Anyways, we started talking and I...I basically told her that something big was going to happen at Belle Reve."

"You what?!" Victor was not amused. Was Cameron saying that the only reason the Justice League had infiltrated Belle Reve in the first place was because this kid couldn't keep his mouth shut?

"I didn't know!" Cameron said loudly. "I thought she was one of us. She was my best friend when we were kids. How was I supposed to know that she would snitch on us?"

"And you're sure she was with the League at that point?" Victor asked.

"I don't know." Cameron shrugged. "But Len says he saw her with them beginning of September, and I saw her beginning of August. What are the chances that she decides to work for the League in those few days in between?"

"Not very high." Victor said. He had thought as much.

"I just...I thought I could trust her, you know?" Cameron sighed. "Apparently not even friendships are safe. The first out she's given to get away from her dad and she jumps at the chance to take it, even if it means snitching on the one person who has always been there for her." Cameron scoffed. "A liar, a snitch, and a bitch. Oh yeah, she'll be a great hero. A good role model for people everywhere." The sarcasm in his voice couldn't be more evident if he had literally spelled it out.

Cameron still looked angry, but Victor got the feeling that it wasn't just towards his so called 'friend'. "Be mad at the girl all you want." The man said. "But don't hold in so much anger for yourself."

"Why not?" Cameron had a challenging look in his eyes. "We both know that when everybody else finds out about this they're going to blame  _me_  for not noticing, so why shouldn't I do the same?"

"You'll get nothing from feeling sorry for yourself." Victor said coldly. "You are not the first person to let themselves be charmed by a pretty face, and you won't be the last." Victor had seen people waste their lives away because they were feeling sorry for themselves, even though it accomplished nothing. Anger towards somebody else, especially anger caused by a broken heart, could be a powerful tool and motivation, but self pity wasn't.

Victor had never imagined Cameron as the type of person who could use his anger to his advantage. The boy had always been sensitive and got upset easily, which was something that Victor had seen as weak. Today though he had seen Cameron get angry rather quickly, and in a potentially powerful way, after receiving some upsetting news. It may have been just a fluke, but it was just as possible that this would be the norm now. That Cameron would still let his emotions get the better of him, but he would react in anger rather than sadness. And anger was much more useful when it came to being a villain.

Victor wasn't entirely sure, but he was curious to see where this would all go.

If Cameron began to get angry rather than upset, he would be much more useful. Especially if he was then able to learn how to use and control his anger rather than letting it control him. If he was able to do that, then Victor could see Cameron actually being a formidable villain one day. Not that he would ever tell the boy that, no need to make him any more big headed than he already was.

"Nobody else need know about what we've discussed." Victor said, which was his way of saying that his lips were sealed. If it ever got out that Cameron had given away information about their break out plan, there would be pandemonium. The young meta-human wouldn't live to see another day if  _anybody_ else found out.

"Thanks." Cameron muttered half heartedly. He straightened up and ran a hand through his hair. "You think Len's gonna be super confused?"

Victor chuckled. "Probably." They had only been gone for a few minutes. Cold would likely be extremely puzzled about how quickly Cameron had calmed down. The kid didn't get angry nearly often enough for them to know that his temper flared up quickly, but died down just as fast.

"How much you wanna bet that nobody else has even noticed we were gone?" Cameron asked, the usual cocky tone was back in his voice. Victor doubted his anger was completely gone at this point, but Cameron had learned over the years how to hide his emotions fairly well. As long as he wasn't too worked up over something, nobody could even tell that something was bothering him. Not unless he  _let_ them know.

"Our dinner desserts." Victor wasn't usually a betting man, and he didn't even care much for desserts anyways, but Cameron did. Victor didn't believe that it was likely that not a single person besides Cold or possibly Frost had noticed their absence. Victor was looking forward to seeing Cameron's disappointment that night at dinner if he won the bet. And if Cameron won, well, Victor probably wouldn't have ended up eating his dessert anyways, so he really didn't have much at stake.

That evening Victor found himself smirking all during the meal. It gave him immense satisfaction to see Cameron's pathetic, broody scowl while he ate. Victor couldn't care less about desserts, but seeing Cameron's disappointment about losing the bet made his victory that much greater. Victor had forgotten how good it felt to win petty bets and fights.

Maybe he should do it more often. It wasn't as though there was anything better for him to do in this prison. And  _somebody_ had to knock these upstart young villains down a few pegs.

And if he got a few extra desserts out of it, well, who was he to complain?


	7. Chapter 7

If there was one thing that most everybody seemed to not appreciate or notice was how difficult it was to get a reputation, and keep it. In Leonard's opinion, it was even harder for villains. Or, maybe it was just harder for  _him_. He had to work four times as hard at something to get any recognition for it just because he happened to care about the people on his team.

Because god forbid villains actually  _show_ they have human emotions every once and awhile.

He didn't understand what all of the hate and mocking was about. Yes, he had a team that he cared about, and most villains saw feelings as a weakness. He understood  _that_. What he didn't get though was why nobody else could see that it was  _because_  The Rogues trusted each other so much that they worked so well together as a team. And since there were more of them they were more of a threat. Why was that so difficult to understand?

Len had thought that being incarcerated at Belle Reve and having an in with the Capo would make things a little easier. That he wouldn't have to try so hard to maintain his image of being a cold hearted bastard, because that  _was_ what he was like towards most anybody who wasn't part of his team. Things probably  _would_ have been that way if it weren't for Leonard's occasional visitors.

The thing about Belle Reve was that it was a  _very_ high security prison. No visitors were allowed in unless they had been approved by the Justice League themselves. As one can imagine, not very many inmates ever got a visitor that wasn't there for interrogation purposes. To Leonard's knowledge, he was the only one.

"This had better be important." Len mumbled to himself as the guards escorted him to the visitors/interrogation room. When the guards roughly shoved him into the visiting room and he saw exactly  _who_ had bothered to visit him Len knew that it likely was important, and he probably wouldn't enjoy a second of it.

"Well, well, fancy seeing you here, Red." Len said the second the guards were out of the room and they could speak in private. His visitor, Barry Allen, frowned at him.

"Don't call me that in here." Barry said. Len shrugged. He knew it was dangerous for both of them, but he couldn't help but mess around with the man like this every once and awhile. By some sort of miracle Len was able to figure out that Barry Allen was no other than the Scarlet Speedster himself. Why not have fun with that knowledge?

"What do you want, Allen?" He knew this couldn't be a social visit. Barry Allen only ever visited him if he needed his help with something, and even then he only did so reluctantly and because his nephew practically forced him to come.

"I need your help." Barry almost looked pained to say those words, like he did anytime he needed a favor. Len was dying to tease him about it, but he held back because he knew the man would see it as fair game to do the same the next time Len was the one looking for a favor, and he didn't want to deal with that.

"With work or with an 'extracurricular' project?" Len asked. It was a weird question, but a necessary one to ask. Usually the favors that Barry asked had to do with keeping his Rogue's under control, but there had been a time or two when the blond forensic scientist had needed help in identifying the subtler signs of child abuse.

"It's Trickster." Barry said, and suddenly Len was all ears.

"What's wrong with James?" Len practically growled. If Barry was coming to him because there was a problem with his Rogues, than it had to be a major problem. And James, despite being a major pain in the ass, wasn't normally a huge problem for the Flash. He could often just be talked out of committing whatever crime, be reminded to take his meds and everything was just fine.

What was so different this time?

"He's gone Trickster five times in the past month." Barry said. Len raised an eyebrow. It was rare for James to go off his meds and wear his Trickster mask more than once or twice a month. Rare, but not unheard of.

"He's looking for attention." Len said. "When was the last time Wally visited him?"

"Well, it's been almost two months now." Barry said. "Wally's been really busy with the team, and his girlfriend."

Len sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Well, that certainly explained things. James lived for the days when Wally would stop by and play darts with him. He was just jealous that Wally had other people to devote his attention to. "There are two ways to calm James down. Convince Wally to check in on him more often. Or just wait it out. James will get bored of this eventually."

"We don't have time to wait." Barry said, and Len could tell he wasn't kidding. Barry sighed and frowned. "There's been talk going around. James is refusing to take his meds, he's causing more and more problems, and the doctors aren't really sure what to do with him anymore."

Len narrowed his eyes. He really didn't like where this was going. "What exactly are they planning to do with him?"

Barry paused before saying in a quieter voice that just didn't suit him. "They're thinking of sending him to Arkham."

Len felt like his insides froze. He desperately hoped that he had heard that wrong, but the serious expression on Barry's face told him he hadn't. "He's not going to Arkham." Len said coldly. He wouldn't allow it to happen. He had heard horror stories about that place, and from what Mr. Freeze had told him a good portion of them were true. He had also seen people like Edward Nygma, The Riddler, who, if anything had gotten  _worse_  after their stay in Arkham. He couldn't let that happen to James. The young man may be a bit...unstable, but he didn't deserve  _that._

"Look, I don't want this to happen either, but there's not much I can do about-" Barry began.

"Bullshit!" Len shouted. Flash was a hero, a member of the Justice League. He had  _a lot_ of say about where his criminals ended up. He just wasn't willing to put in the effort. "James is  _not_ going to Arkham."

"Then we need to figure out some way to fix this, because it  _will_ happen if he just continues to get worse." Barry glared at him sternly. Len had never seen Barry as a very intimidating guy, but he still took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Len knew that he wouldn't be helping  _anybody_ by losing control like this.

"Let me talk to him." If anybody could knock some sense into James, it was Len. He thought for a few seconds before adding "And let me take Cameron Mahkent with me."

Barry looked taken aback by his request. "Icicle Junior? Why do you want  _him_ there?"

"Because James doesn't just need someone to scold him." Len said. Things would be a million times easier if that was all. Hell, if that was all it would take to get James to settle down than Mick or Sam, or even Digger could do just that. "He needs a friend." Len himself wasn't very good 'friend' material. He just wasn't good at being nice.

"But they don't even know each other." Barry argued. "Wouldn't Piper or Wally be better?"

"You saying you want to ask Wally to spend more time with James?" Len raised an eyebrow. Barry had always hated the fact that Wally spent time with The Rogues. He couldn't imagine him actually arranging a meeting himself.

"Well, no, but why aren't  _you_ suggesting it?" Barry looked confused.

"First off, because I know you would fight against it." Len scowled. "Also, the kid's been refusing to listen to a word I've said for a few months now." It was infuriating just how long the kid could hold a grudge for. If Len had known just how much he would regret being a part of that snow storm in November for Count Vertigo, he never would have agreed to it. He hadn't known that Wally would refuse to speak to him after the incident.

(He also hadn't known that the whole reason Vertigo wanted the storm was so he could kill his kid niece. He  _never_  would have agreed to it if he had known that. Len only ever killed if it was absolutely necessary, and he  _never_  did it to a kid.)

"And as for Hartley, well, if  _you_ can track him down and get him to talk to James, be my guest." Len said bitterly. Hartley had all but left The Rogues. The kid seemed to be under the impression that he was better than them, thus, he shouldn't have anything to do with them. Maybe Hartley  _was_ better than them, but that didn't mean that it was okay that he was being so ungrateful about it.

Barry frowned. "I'll see if I can arrange for you and Junior to talk to Trickster."

Len smirked. He knew that James was likely in a mental hospital right now, and likely wasn't allowed to set foot out of there. Thus, if Len was going to talk to him,  _he_ would have to be the one to go to James instead of it being the other way around. Basically, this arrangement was a 'get-out-of-Belle-Reve-free' card...for a few hours.

"I'll tell Cam and Joar what's going on." Len said.

"Whoa, what does this have to do with Icicle?" Barry glared suspiciously at him. Len rolled his eyes.

"He's Cameron's father. He has a right to know where his kid is." Len said. Honestly though, that was just half the reason. The other half was because Joar was the prison Capo. Whether the Justice League liked it or not, nothing went on in this place without his say so. Len just didn't think that Barry needed to know that particular reason. Fortunately, the family friendly Flash seemed to buy the whole 'dad' excuse.

"...Fine." Barry agreed reluctantly. "Just don't let this whole thing become public knowledge."

"Trust me, I won't." Len said honestly. He did have a reputation to uphold after all.

Their little visitation ended soon after they had made their arrangement. After all, it really wasn't a social visit, and Barry probably had many other people he would rather be talking to. The guards came back in to escort Len back to his cell. As usual, the guards were rougher with him than they probably had to be, the guards in this place just liked to try to prove who exactly was in charge around here. Len didn't really mind it so much, he let them satisfy their pride. Besides, he was too busy thinking about things to really start a fight over a grip that was a tad bit too strong.

Even though he hadn't enjoyed his little visit with the Flash, he was glad that it had happened. After all, now he was aware of James' problems and could do something to fix them. And Len was always going to appreciate any opportunity he could get to be out of the prison. Plus, this time around he wasn't just getting himself out for a few hours, but also Cameron, and Len knew that this was something the kid really needed.

He wasn't sure if anybody else had really noticed or cared, but Cameron hadn't been acting like himself lately. He was quick to anger and was more sarcastic and snarky than he usually was, which was saying something. He was trying to make himself seem touch, because he wanted to hide how scared he really was.

Yes, scared. Cameron may not be showing any signs of fear, but that was only because Joar had trained him well. Still, he was just a teenager, not quite a legal adult, stuck in a prison full of super criminals that hated his guts. If Cameron wasn't scared, than he  _was_ insane.

Len knew that what the kid needed was to have a break from all of the fear and expectations. He needed the chance to be regular kid, even if just for a little bit. If Len's plan went as he wanted it to, both James  _and_ Cameron would benefit from this arrangement.

And if they couldn't think of anything to talk about, Len figured they could bond over how much they both hated that Wally and Artemis were dating.

Other than having time to think, the grip back to his cell was completely uneventful. Cameron, who had been in there the whole time, sat up and stared down at Len from his place on the top bunk.

"That didn't take long." Cameron commented as he swung his legs so that they were dangling over the edge. The boy leaned forward slightly. "Who was visiting you today?" The kid said it in a teasing tone, though Len knew that it was more because he was trying to copy everybody else who frowned upon people who received visitors. Len was fairly certain that Cameron couldn't care less who was getting visitors and why. If anything, Cameron was jealous that  _he_ hadn't gotten any visitors yet. After all, Artemis was in a pretty good position to arrange a visitation if she really wanted to.

It just went to show that the childhood friendship had only meant something to Cameron.

"Just somebody from Central City." Len leaned against the bed and raised an eyebrow at Cameron. "One of my Rogues has been causing some trouble. I need to go to Central City to deal with him."

"Wait, you can do that?" Cameron's eyes widened.

"If you have enough connections." Len smirked. "Think you can do me a favor?"

Cameron narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "What is it?" Before being sent to Belle Reve Cameron would have agreed to do a favor for almost anybody without asking what it was or what was in it for him. This was just another way that prison was forcing the naivety out of the boy.

"Trickster has been out of control lately, and he's always been more willing to listen to somebody that  _doesn't_ have any authority over him." Len said bluntly. Or, at least, he  _thought_ it was bluntly. It took Cameron a few seconds to even realize what he had said.

Wait, you want  _me_ to talk to him?" Cameron leaned back slightly, his eyes wide and full of doubt. "Why?"

"Because I don't have anybody else that he would listen to." That was a serious lie, but Cameron didn't need to know that. "He warms up to kids his age quicker than he forgives adults he already knows. So, you in?"

"Yeah, whatever." Cameron shrugged and leaned back against the wall. Len frowned. When had Cameron gotten so good at masking his emotions that he couldn't tell whether the teenager was agreeing to do this because he wanted the chance to get out of prison for a bit, because he wanted to help Len out, because he wanted to help  _Trickster,_  or because he felt obligated to agree to do it?

When had Cameron gotten so good at masking his feelings that a master of reading people, like Leonard, couldn't see what he was hiding?

"Are you sure this is a good idea, man?" Cameron asked unsurely.

"It's a little late to be doubting things now." Len said shortly. Maybe he was being a little more bitter than necessary, but he was pissed off that it had been  _days_ since Barry had told him that James had a problem, and only  _now_  were they actually doing anything about it. So, yeah, forgive him for being a little snippity at Cameron who was wanting to chicken out. Besides, it really was too late to be having second thoughts, considering they were currently walking down the halls of the mental hospital towards James' room.

"I just don't know what I'm supposed to  _do_." Cameron raised a hand to scratch at his neck, but Len stopped him.

"Don't even think about it." He growled. Just about the  _worst_  thing that Cameron could do when they had armed guards walking just behind them was give them any reason to think that he was trying to tamper with the inhibitor collar. "And don't stress about what you're supposed to do." Cameron was just here because Len hoped that his presence would help James to relax. There was nothing special that was required for him to do.

Cameron frowned, which Len didn't understand. Did the kid  _want_ to be told exactly what to do? Didn't he already get enough of that from his dad. Cameron was constantly being told how he should act and who he should be. Should he be glad for the chance to be his own person for once? There weren't even people around who would judge him for it.

Well, there were people around, but Len believed that everybody here had their own problems to deal with. They probably wouldn't spare some kid who makes a small mistake a second glance.

Len felt Cameron shift closer to him as they walked down the hallway, almost like he felt uncomfortable, and honestly, Len didn't blame him. He always hated coming to this place. The atmosphere of a mental hospital felt like a combination between a normal hospital and a prison. Basically, it didn't feel like a nice place. That was why he usually tried to break James out of here as soon as he was given a new set of medication.

It didn't take them too long to get to James' room. Len wasn't sure whether or not it was normal for patients to have their own rooms, but James did. He wasn't sure if that meant something or not. Len knocked on the door, because it was never a good idea to barge into James' room without warning, whether he was in the hospital or not, and opened the door.

"Lenny!" The leader of The Rogues was immediately tackled into a hug the second he opened the door. "You came! Flasher said you would come. What took you so long?"

Len chuckled slightly and gently pushed the blond away from him. "I was caught up. I came as soon as I could, though. And I brought somebody with me." Len turned and gestured for Cameron to come forward and stop shying away.

James frowned slightly at the sight of this person who was a stranger to him. "Who's he?"

"Cameron." Len answered. "He's Icicle Junior. I thought you might want to talk to somebody your own age."

James eyed Cameron's unique skin coloring. "You have ice powers? That's cool." He said with a joking grin. Len smirked and Cameron snickered.

"Yeah, 'cause that's the first time I've ever heard  _that_ one before." Cameron finally loosened up a bit. He put his hands in his pockets and leaned against the wall. He was basically the image of the average teenage boy...except now Len was feeling paranoid. Was Cameron actually relaxed and chilling out, or was he just faking it again?

"So, uh..." Cameron looked around the room as he searched for something to say. "What're you in for?" Len sent an exasperated look towards the teenager. James didn't seem bothered by the question though, which was fortunate.

"Oh, Flasher's just being paranoid. I was just having a little fun." James tried to wave the issue aside, which irritated Len. The kid didn't realize just how serious the situation was.

"You're getting people hurt, James." Len said sharply. "You can't just do whatever you want just because you want attention from Kid Flash."

James' eyes darkened and Len mentally scolded himself. Getting irritated and scolding James would just make things worse. He knew he needed to take a more gentle approach with this...except 'gentle' really wasn't something that Len was good at doing.  _This_ was why he had brought Cameron.

Len turned towards the teenager. "Can you talk to him?"

"Wait, me?" Cameron's eyes widened, though Len wasn't sure why. Hadn't he known he would be doing something like this? "What do you want  _me_ to say?"

"I don't need you to lecture him." Len all but growled, because why was Cameron making this more complicated than it had to be. "Just talk to him about whatever the hell you want."

Cameron's eyes still seemed to be filled with hesitancy and slight panic. "I don't know what to talk about!"

Len grit his teeth and was moments away from snapping at Cameron when James stepped forward. "Lenny, you're scaring him." Well, leave it to a disturbed, childish teenager to point out the obvious that nobody else had realized. James pushed past Len and approached Cameron, who looked like he didn't really understand what was going on. Len didn't really blame him, because when it came to James, nobody ever seemed to understand  _anything._

"You have to forgive Len." James said to Cameron. "He keeps on forgetting how scary he is sometimes." Len scowled. He was  _not_ scary. Intimidating, sure, but not scary.

"Trust me, I wasn't scared of him." Cameron scoffed.

"You looked scared." James said bluntly, and Len found himself agreeing with him.

"Yeah, but not of  _him._ " Cameron insisted.

"Then what?" James asked curiously.

"Yeah, what?" Len found himself asking as well, because now  _he_ was curious.

Cameron frowned and crossed his arms in a way that was either defiant or protective. "...I didn't know what you wanted me to say."

"What?" Len hadn't been expecting that. "Who cares what  _I_ wanted you to say? I was giving you the chance to speak your damn mind for once. What did you want me to do, spell out exactly what you should say?"

"Uh, yeah?" Cameron shrugged as though it was obvious and Len frowned. Why would Cameron want that? James frowned too, though it seemed to be more from sad understanding than confusion.

"You don't like deciding things on your own, do you?" James asked. "You liked being told what to do?"

"Yeah, 'cause I  _suck_ at thinking for myself." Cameron said bitterly. Len scowled. Where the hell had Cameron gotten  _that_ idea. "Last time I decided to show some initiative I ended up screwing everything up." Oh, that's where the idea had come from.

"You know, the failed breakout attempt wasn't your fault." Len said for what felt like the billionth time.

"Yeah, well, you're the only one that thinks that." Cameron said stubbornly. Len didn't understand why the kid was so insistent about blaming himself.

James didn't seem bothered by the serious turn the conversation had taken. "So what if you feel like a screw up? I screw things up all the time, and that doesn't stop me."

Cameron looked at the blond strangely. "Stop you from what?"

"From being myself." James said. "It's no fun to let other people choose who you get to be. If you're going to make mistakes, they might as well be your own mistakes, right?"

"I guess so." Cameron shrugged uncertainly.

"You just can't care so much about what other people think." James said. "I don't."

Len snorted. "Except for Kid Flash." James pouted and looked as though he had been betrayed. Cameron snickered and Len raised an eyebrow at him. "You're not much better with your obsession with Artemis." That shut the teenager right up.

"Hey, it's not  _my_ fault that I don't think Artemis should be dating a speedster who dresses like a banana." Cameron said moodily. James looked at him strangely.

"You know the girl that's dating Baby Flash?" James asked.

Cameron smirked at the term 'Baby Flash'. "Yeah, she's a close friend. Or, at least, she was until she decided to go straight."

"That sounds like Hartley." James said sympathetically.

"James, Hartley is about as far from 'straight' as they come." Len said mock seriously, which made James giggle like crazy.

"One would think that something like friendship would be important to heroes." Cameron said longingly. James' frown dimmed and he nodded in agreement. Len was somewhat impressed. He hadn't expected the teenagers to actually bond over how they thought the good guys should be better friends.

The two boys were speaking comfortably now, and Len was given a moment to think about how different the boys were, and how much they might be able to benefit each other. Cameron was definitely a follower. As Len had learned that day, he was unsure at times and would rather just do whatever anybody else suggested for him.

James on the other hand was almost the opposite. He rarely listened to authority, even if the rules they set up for him were just for his own good. He would much rather do things his own way, no matter the consequences.

Both boys took being either independent or obedient to the extreme, and neither was healthy. Len wondered if the two of them could influence each other to think a little more their way. If James could teach Cameron a thing or two about confidence and doing things for himself. And maybe in return Cameron could show James that even though conformity isn't ever fun, sometimes it's the better of two evils.

It would take more than just today for their influence to sink in. Len would need the teenagers to have more time with each other. Fortunately, he didn't think that would be all that hard to arrange. After all, Flash had the power to make meetings like this happen, and surely even optimistic Barry Allen couldn't be under the impression that James would be completely back to his non threatening self after just one day.

And if Flash needed a little convincing, well, Len could be rather persuasive when he wanted to be.


	8. Chapter 8

Like many prisoners, Joar had been making a mental list of things that he would do when he got out (and it didn't matter that he had a life sentence, Joar  _was_ getting out of this place. The very first thing Joar planned on doing was tracking down the person who had decided that Belle Reve should be located in the middle of Louisiana and kill him. If that guy was already dead, than Joar would find his relatives and punish  _them_ instead, because  _somebody_ had to suffer for this idiotic decision.

Joar was an  _ice_ villain for a reason. He would take the cold over the heat any day. Unfortunately, Louisiana was  _not_ a cold place. Even in the middle of winter it was still fairly warm. It was even worse in the middle of summer. The heat was overbearing and the humidity was extremely stifling. Nobody, not even the fire villains, liked it.

The heat was terrible enough on it's own. Throw in a broken A.C. in the prison and it became unbearable. Tensions were rising just as much as the temperatures were, and as miserable as Joar was he had to take on the role of a mediator for dozens of criminals who only seemed to know how to deal with their frustrations with their fists.

"Alright, knock it off!" Joar shouted in annoyance when he had to break off yet another fight. It was the fifth one that day, and something told him that things would only get worse before they got better. If the fights continued like this then sooner rather than later they would have a riot on their hands, and that was the last thing that Joar wanted to deal with.

"Hey, Capo, when's the air getting back on?" Brick glared at Joar, who returned the look easily.

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" He growled. "Do I look like the maintenance to you?" In all honesty though, Joar knew  _exactly_ when the air would come back on, because he knew why it was off in the first place.

Hugo Strange was a very interesting and manipulative warden. Ever since the failed break out nearly a year before Strange had been hinting about how maybe Joar wasn't cut out to be Capo. He was always throwing 'tests' at him, to make sure he could keep control of the prison. This whole air conditioning situation was just another one of Strange's tests. He wanted to make sure that Joar could keep the prisoners from rioting in such extreme conditions, and if he managed it for a week then he passed the test and Strange would owe him a favor.

It was an interesting and stressful game they played, but if it kept Joar in Strange's good spirits then it was worth the annoyance.

Joar was just glad that he only had to do this for another day after this, because word on the news was that this heat wave would last for another week, and even he wouldn't be able to hold off all the fights and riots for that long. Especially since he had other things to worry about.

Not seeing any more fights at the second Joar returned to his place at the bleachers and sat next to Mr. Freeze. Just a few feet away and on the other side of the glass wall separating the women's ward from the men's Joar could see Killer Frost leaning against the wall. Anybody else would see her and assume that she was bored, which she was, but Joar could see a miniscule layer of worry under her cold exterior. He only recognized it because he was feeling the exact same way except much worse.

"Any word from Cold yet?" Joar asked in a neutral tone, though he was feeling anything but neutral. He was tired, and his exhaustion was making him more sentimental than he usually was. At least, that was the excuse that he was telling himself, because he couldn't allow himself to go soft. Not even for his only son.

Freeze looked annoyed by the question, but he knew better than to say anything about it. "Not yet."

Joar scowled. Even before this damned heat wave had started Cameron had been feeling off. That kid's ice powers may be extremely useful, but they also had their downsides. Because of his naturally low core body temperature Cameron was very affected by high temperatures. Summer weather in California often caused Cameron to get heat exhaustion at least once or twice a year. Things never got horribly bad though, because Cameron's ice powers had served at least partially counteract the heat.

The thing was, they weren't in California, they were in Louisiana, which was hotter and much more humid. They were also in the middle of a bad heat wave, which was bad news for Cameron. Especially since because of the damned collars, Cameron couldn't use his powers to even try to protect himself. He was vulnerable to the heat, and there wasn't much any of them could do about it.

Captain Cold, who was Cameron's cell mate, had volunteered to keep an eye on him. Joar was just grateful that Cold wasn't worried about his showing of concern tarnishing his reputation. It helped that Cold was a Rogue, who already had a reputation of being soft. Joar would never be stupid enough to think of Captain Cold as soft, but he wasn't going to complain about him showing concern for Cameron, because somebody had to.

Joar glared out to the rest of the prisoners and tried to distract himself from thoughts about Cameron. So what if the circumstances were different and he was probably worse off than he ever had been before? So what if Joar hadn't even laid eyes on Cameron for five days now because he hadn't left his cell and, as Capo, Joar couldn't risk the others seeing him checking up on his son. And so what if he hadn't heard from Captain Cold about Cameron's condition since yesterday?

Everything was fine. It had to be, because Joar didn't know what he would do if it wasn't.

Even when he was trying to focus on the other prisoners and being the Capo Joar took notice the second that Captain Cold entered the red room. His face was serious and Joar felt his blood run cold because he knew that whatever news Cold had for him it couldn't be good.

Cold wasn't approaching the bleachers though. He was staying right near the door, a cold, unmoving look on his face as he looked at Joar. The Capo glared straight back, because he got the unspoken message that Cold was sending. Cold wanted Joar to talk with him, probably outside the room. It was a bold request, and Joar was both annoyed and impressed that Cold even had the balls to silently demand it.

Normally Joar wouldn't allow anybody else to call the shots.  _He_  was the Capo here.  _He_ was the one who was in charge, and he demanded respect. But he knew Cold, and while the man liked to be in charge just as much as Joar did he didn't make potentially problematic demands like this unless it was absolutely necessary. Something was wrong, and Cold thought that Joar should hear about it without risking anybody else eavesdropping.

So even though he was seething the whole time, and he swore to himself that he would make Cold pay for this later, Joar got to his feet and approached the door. As soon as Cold saw that he was coming he retreated back into the hallway to wait for him.

"This had better be important, Snart." Joar hissed the second they were out of the room.

"Cam's gotten worse." Cold glared at him as though it was his fault.

"So take care of it." After all, that was why Cold had volunteered to keep an eye on Cameron in the first place.

"I can't." Cold growled, because they both knew that there wasn't really much they could do. On the first day that Cameron had been feeling off he had spent nearly two hours in the showers, blasting himself with ice cold water. It had been a pain in the ass to arrange, and it hadn't really been worth it. The chill had kept Cameron okay for a few hours, but it had just been a temporary fix. The next day Cameron had been feeling even worse off than he had before.

"What do you want me to do about it?" Joar said, because there wasn't much that he could do that Cold couldn't. "Look, Cam'll be fine. He just has to toughen up, deal with it, and the A.C. will be back on tomorrow night."

"He won't last that long." Cold said, which threw Joar off.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Joar growled to mask the worry in his voice.

"He needs to go to a hospital, Joar." Cold addressed him by his actual name instead of Icicle, to show that he wasn't speaking to the prison Capo right then, he was talking to Cameron's father. Unlike Joar, Cold didn't bother hiding how concerned he was. "I think his heat exhaustion has escalated to heat stroke."

Joar felt his breath catch in his throat. He didn't consider himself an expert on heat stroke or heat exhaustion, but it was clear which one was worse. "How do you know?"

Len scoffed at the question. "I recognized the symptoms. Mick has told me stuff like this so many times that it got branded into my brain." Mick Rory was another Rogue, Heatwave. A man who had as strong an obsession with fire and all things heat as Leonard Snart had for ice and all things cold. The man probably knew as much about heat stroke as Cold did frostbite.

Joar didn't know how much worse Cameron was now. He needed to see it for himself. "He's still in the cell, right?"

"Obviously." Cold almost sounded offended that Joar had implied that he might be somewhere else. It probably wouldn't be so bad for Cameron to be in the showers, except they both knew it wouldn't have been a good idea to leave Cam, who was probably incredibly weak and defenseless, in there by himself when there was even the smallest possibility that another prisoner could be in there too.

Joar and Cold quickly headed towards Cameron's cell. From the second Joar entered the small cell he could see that something was definitely wrong. Cameron was lying on his stomach on the bottom bunk, even though he had made it clear to all of them that he definitely prefered the top bunk. Cameron's eyes were closed, but he definitely wasn't sleeping.

"Cam." Joar snapped his fingers to try to get his son's attention. Cameron lazily opened his eyes, but they were very unfocused. It took a few moments for him to focus on his father.

"Dad." Cameron's voice was weak and almost pathetic. Normally Joar would punish him for showing so much vulnerability, he was supposed to be stronger than that. Considering the circumstances though, Joar could bare to cut his kid some slack.

"How're you feeling?" Joar asked, because that was really the best way to tell how good or bad it really was. After all, nobody knew better than Cameron just how bad he was feeling.

"Hot." Cameron groaned as he closed his eyes again. Joar frowned. Cameron had never responded with 'hot' before. It had always been 'fine', 'bad', or 'warm'. Cameron's low core body temperature kept him from every truly feeling hot. Something was seriously wrong.

Concerned, but still unwilling to show it Joar just laid a hand on Cameron's bare shoulder. Joar's eyes narrowed when he felt that Cameron's skin was actually warm to the touch. That wasn't supposed to happen.  _Ever_.

Cameron sighed and leaned slightly to the touch. "Your hand is cold."

"No, your skin's just warm." Joar looked back at Cold, who raised an eyebrow at him that clearly said 'I-told-you-so', and he had. Cameron really wasn't doing well at all and something needed to change. The air wouldn't be back on for another two days, and even then it wouldn't do a lot for Cameron. Joar just didn't think that having Cameron brought to the infirmary or even a hospital would do the trick. He honestly thought that their best bet would be for Cameron to have his natural resistance against the heat again, but that wouldn't happen as long as he was wearing the damned collar.

Joar knew that there was really only one thing he could do to make this stop. It was something that he really,  _really_ didn't want to do, but he would just have to suck it up and deal with it.

Joar gave Cameron's shoulder a hopefully assuring squeeze. He tried to ignore Cameron's small whimper when he brought his hand away. Joar glared at Cold in his default cold and calculating way. "Keep an eye on him. I gotta talk with Strange."

It was times like this that Joar was glad that he was the Capo. He was the only prisoner in Belle Reve who could walk right down the hallways towards the warden's office and not have a single guard try to stop him. They all knew about the arrangements between him and Strange, and they weren't stupid enough to try to stop any potential confrontation from happening.

Joar was able to just walk straight into Strange's office. The warden raised an eyebrow in surprise, because it took a whole lot more than this to actually fully catch this man off guard. "Icicle, what an unexpected surprise." Strange almost said this as though he had actually been expecting Joar the entire time, which wasn't really possible. He was just really good at making it seem like he was holding all the pieces. "Are you here about the heat again?"

"You could say that." Joar slammed the door shut so nobody would listen in on them. He glared coldly at Strange and approached his desk. "I need you to turn Cameron's collar off."

Both eyebrows went up at the blunt demand. "You must recognize how much you're asking of me. If word got out that I turned his collar off, even just temporarily...well, I'm sure you can imagine what would happen?"

Joar knew exactly what would happen. Strange would worm his way out of all consequences, and Cameron would be the one to take the fall. Even though it had a while since the failed break out, the other prisoners, and even some of the guards, hated Cameron. They just saw him as a kid who only got respect and power (even though he had neither) because his dad had respect and power.

If anybody even suspected that Cameron's collar was off, something that the majority of the prisoners here would kill for, they would end up taking their frustrations out on the kid.  _Again._

"Yeah, I've thought about it." Joar said, but it was just something that he would have to deal with when it came up.

"May I ask what this sudden need is for?" Strange asked. "You're not planning another break out, are you?"

"Of course not." Joar growled. Strange had to know that he wasn't stupid enough to do that so soon after the first attempt. And if he  _was_ planning a break out, why would he want  _Cameron's_ collar off? He would probably be the one person most useless in a break out, as he had already shown. "Cameron's being affected badly by the weather. He needs his ice to cool himself down.

"And you want me to make special adjustments for your son?" Strange asked.

"You do it for Freeze." Joar pointed out. That man couldn't survive in temperatures above freezing, which was why he wore his suit. Allowing Cameron access to his powers would serve pretty much the same purpose.

"I'm afraid you're asking too much." Strange said in that patronizing tone of his. "I cannot just let people wander around the prison with full access to their powers and no way to reign them in. It would be trouble."

"What trouble?" Joar shouted, because he was sick and tired of this game. He knew what Strange was doing. The man just wanted to see how desperate Joar was for this to happen. And, unfortunately, the warden was definitely winning. "Cameron's the lowest threat prisoner in here! Even if he had his powers he wouldn't do a damn thing with them."

"Not even if he was being threatened?" Strange smirked ever so slightly. "I've heard that the other prisoners are quite unhappy with him." That was a damn understatement if Joar had ever heard one.

Joar seethed at the comment, because he had been working with Strange for long enough to know a veiled threat when he heard one. Basically, Strange was saying that if Cameron's collar was turned off, then it was a guarantee that there would be another beat down going on, a bad one, and Cameron would be expected to keep his use of ice powers a secret. It would be yet another sick test from Strange.

That man definitely liked his tests.

"Cameron knows how to keep his ice out of a fight." In other words, Joar had taught Cameron well that he should just accept the beating and not try to defend himself, or things would just get worse. It was a harsh and cruel lesson, one that Moar hadn't even taught his kid intentionally, but at least it looked like it would actually do Cameron some good.

"Alright, so say the boy's collar malfunctions for a week or two and he doesn't take advantage of it." Strange said, sounding mostly convinced. "What do I get from this?"

And there it was. Strange probably couldn't care less whether or not Cameron's collar was turned off for a bit, he just wanted to know exactly how much he could take advantage of it. Joar had known this, and he wondered why it had taken so long for Strange to just cut to the chase. Especially since they both knew exactly what Joar's response would be.

"I would owe you a favor." Joar said, because he knew that was what it would take. Strange was treating this as though it was a big deal, even though, to him, it wasn't. He just wanted to use this situation as a reminder to Joar of just who exactly was in charge here. Joar was willing to play by Strange's rules, because it was to his advantage that the other man thinks that  _he_ was the one in charge. However, Joar couldn't just let Strange think that he held  _all_ the cards in this partnership. "Of course, in a few days you'll owe me one too."

"Yes, of course." Strange sighed almost boredly. They both knew that the favor that Strange would owe him if this air conditioning thing worked out was worth less than the favor that Joar would owe the warden if he turned off Cameron's collar. Still, it was the concept of the matter that counted. Every little favor that Strange owed him was a little reminder that even though the Warden was in charge, he still needed Joar.

"Alright, I believe we have a deal." Strange stood up and held out his hand. Joar was about to shake it when Strange pulled back. "I believe this goes without saying, but I feel I should remind you that if things go badly, I won't be the one to take the fall, and neither will you."

"Yeah, I get it." Joar growled. Cameron was an adult now. He had to deal with his own consequences. No more hiding behind other people to defend him. Joar knew this, Strange knew this, now it was just a matter of getting the idea through Cameron's thick skull. "Can we move one with this?" Joar was sick and tired of all of Strange's stalling.

"Very well." Strange held out his hand again and Joar shook it before he could change his mind again. "I hope you know what you're doing, Mahkent. It would be a shame for you to go to all this trouble only to find yourself regretting it later."

"I won't." Joar said as he dropped Strange's hand as though it was burning him. "Now, turn his collar off."

"Yes, alright." Strange sat back down at his desk and tapped a few keys on his computer. "There. It is done."

"Then we're done." Joar nodded at Strange, because even if he didn't fully respect the man he had to at least act like he did...for now. He left the office and wondered if turning off any individual collar was really so easy to do. For all the security they had in this prison, they certainly made it easy to get past.

Joar was planning on using that information to his advantage before anybody else realized the flaw in the security system and decided to upgrade it.

That would have to happen later though, because Joar still had Cameron to deal with.

It only took him a few minutes to get back to Cameron's cell. His son was still lying on the bed, but he looked like he was asleep now. Cameron was strange that way. Most of the time it took him hours to get to sleep, and usually he couldn't manage to sleep at all during a heat wave. Occasionally though he would fall asleep in seconds, which usually happened when his body and mind were just too tired to handle being awake anymore.

Captain Cold quickly noticed that Joar had returned and he looked at him with curious, slightly accusatory and yet also impressed eyes. "How the hell did you manage to get his collar turned off?"

"That's none of your business." Joar pushed past Cold with a threatening glare. "And don't even think about telling the others." Joar looked back at Cameron, who seemed restless while he slept. Concerned that he had judged the situation wrongly Joar took his son's hand in his own, because that was where his ice powers came from. He breathed a sigh of relief when he felt that Cameron's fingers were slightly chilly.

Cameron had most control over his powers when he was tense or nervous, but he used them more naturally and sometimes unintentionally when he was completely relaxed. Joar couldn't count the number of times that Cameron had woken up confused because his skin and room were completely covered in ice. His powers would naturally cool him down while he slept. Joar was confident of this.

"You're going to be fine, Cam." Joar muttered so quietly that even Cold didn't hear him. He tightened his grip on his son's hand. "You're going to be just fine."


End file.
